Psychologists at the University of Sussex have confirmed that the warm glow of kindness is real, even when there's nothing in it for you.
In their study, published in NeuroImage, the researchers said they undertook a major analysis of 36 existing studies showing the brain scans relating to over 1000 people making kind decisions.
For the first time, they split the analysis between what happens in the brain when people act out of genuine altruism where there's nothing in it for them and when they act with "strategic kindness" when there is something to be gained as a consequence, like they are adopting the "beneficial generosity" strategy.
Many former studies have hinted that generosity activates the reward network of the brain but this new study from Sussex is the first that brought these studies together, and then split the results into two types of kindness: altruistic and strategic.
The Sussex scientists found that reward areas of the brain are more active, which means that they use up more oxygen when people act with strategic kindness, when there is an opportunity for others to return the favor.
But they also found that acts of altruism, with no hope of personal benefit, activate the reward areas of the brain too, and more than that, that some brain regions (in the 'subgenual anterior cingulate cortex') were more active during altruistic decisions.
Dr. Daniel Campbell-Meiklejohn, director of the Social Decision Laboratory at the University of Sussex, said: " This major study sparks questions about people having different motivations to give to others: clear self-interest versus the warm glow of altruism."
