Altruism: Economic Model And Data Analysis

Altruism is defined as a kind of behavior which is obviously detrimental to its performer, yet beneficial to another organism. Mao Yushi defines morality as "a behavioral norm involving sacrificing the temporary benefit of oneself for the well being of everyone." As we can see, altruism is embodied by morality, and the content of the two concepts are the same in a certain extent. Altruistic behavior is a common phenomenon in both nature and human society and it plays an important role in the evolutionary process and the progress of civilization. This article intends to analyse the formation and maintainance of altruism, making an effort to understand the morality of human world.Altruism involves many subjects: economists, sociologists, psychologists and biologists are all doing research in this field. The research of this text is mainly about the following two aspects: Firstly, the current literature of this field is summarized, and by constructing the mathematical model, the mechanism of kin selection, reciprocity and group selection is analysed. A unifying framework is constructed on the basis of kin selection to analyse the altruistic behavior in humans. Secondly, statistical method is employed to investigate the current situation of altruism of the college student of our country.Following the above mentioned framework, this text contains two parts: the first part includes the first four chapters, which respectively analyse altruistic behavior from the aspect of kin selection, reciprocity and group selection. The second part is the last chapter, by analyzing the data collected from a questionnaire, the influencing factor of altruistic behavior is analysed and tested.The following is the main contributions of this text:1. The formal definition of altruism is given from the perspective of game theory, the mechanism of kin selection, reciprocity and group selection, as well as the role they played in the development of altruism. Theoretical analysis and survey data is combined in the research of the current situation of the level of altruism of college students of our country. Statistical analysis is used to discuss the influence of the above mechanisms on the level of altruism, and suggestions for enhancing altruistic behavior are proposed.2. Hamilton's Rule is rededuced on the basis of kin selection theory, and its extensive form given.Hamilton's Rule can be used to explain the emergence of kin altruism, and it is first proposed by Hamilton W. D. in 1964. However, the deduction of it is rather complicated. Based on the theory of kin selection, Hamilton's Rule is rededuced, and the extensive form of which is given to describe the situation when there are more then one benificiaries of an altruistic behavior.3. The hypothesis of generalized homo economicus is proposed, and generalized utility function is built on it.Generalized utility function can be used to explain a vast category of human behavior, including altruism. Based on the theory of kin selection, the hypothesis of generalized homo economicus is proposed, and generalized utility function is built on its basis.4. Extension of the model of group selection.Theoretical extension of the group selection model proposed by Sober and Wilson in 1998 is given, and its shortcomings are corrected, so that the new model can give a better description of reality, and some valuable conclusions are made.