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Cited by 301

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 5 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Why Act for the Public Good? Four Answers

Batson, C. Daniel·1994·Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Abstract

A conceptual analysis is offered that differentiates four motives for acting for the public good: egoism, collectivism, altruism, and principlism. Differentiation is based on identification of a unique ultimate goal for each motive. For egoism, the ultimate goal is self-benefit; for collectivism, it is to increase group welfare; for altruism, to increase one or more other individuals' welfare; for principlism, to uphold one or more moral principles. Advocates claim that these last three motives cannot be reduced to egoism. Evidence for this claim is limited, however, especially for collectivism and principlism. It is hoped that the conceptual distinctions proposed will permit broader, more precise empirical study of nonegoistic motives for acting for the public good.

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Metadata

Authors
Batson, C. D.
Venue
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Published
1994-10
Volume
20
Issue
5
Pages
603-610
ISSN
  • 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-7433
OpenAlex
W2169495330
Cited by
301
References
5
FWCI
4.96
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Why Act for the Public Good? Four Answers. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1177/0146167294205016
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Batson, C. D. (1994). Why Act for the Public Good? Four Answers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167294205016

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