Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Publication Date

10-15-1971

Abstract

This dissertation consists of a model of therapy, Altruistic Therapy, as developed by the author and a study to evaluate its efficacy. Altruistic Therapy, which focuses on getting versus giving, consists of helping people recognize their self-defeating patterns of getting and helps them learn to give to themselves and others so that they can come to appreciate themselves and improve their interpersonal relationships. Getting (as defined) is self-defeating because it reinforces feelings of deficiency, places one in a self-defeating bind and disrupts effective communications, cutting one off from others. Giving (as defined) is therapeutic because it focuses on an individual's positive attributes, what one has to give to himself and others, which reinforces his feelings of worth, and because it is a balanced process, which also helps to improve one's interpersonal relationships. It is balanced in that one cannot give to himself without giving to others and one cannot give to others without giving to himself. The application of altruistic therapy involves both insight and action. Individuals are helped to see and understand their self-defeating patterns, getting, and are encouraged to recognize and develop what they have to give to themselves and others, and to put into practice giving to themselves and others through their imaginations, role playing, and giving exercises. The review of literature did not reveal any studies directed toward proving that giving was therapeutic; however, it did reveal that many personality theorists and psychologists explicitly and implicitly linked altruism to self-esteem, maturity and mental health. The literature tended to indicate that altruistic people are less competitive, less neurotic, more social and have better mental health. Altruistic Therapy was tested in a study with 30 married volunteer middle class subjects in group therapy. The couples were divided into two altruistic therapy groups of five couples each, two behavioristic (operant conditioning) groups of five couples each, and one no-therapy control group of ten couples. The study consisted of six weeks of therapy, preceded and followed by testing. The altruistic group significantly increased their self­-esteem as contrasted to the no-therapy control group (.05 level), and as contrasted to the behavioristic group (.01 level). The behavioristic group did not significantly increase their self-­esteem. There was no significant change in marriage relationship for either treatment group. Altruistic therapy is in an early stage of development and needs to be evaluated with different populations in different settings on both an individual and group basis.

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy

First Committee Member (Chair)

Marion Jacob Heisey

Second Committee Member

William Robert Fishburn

Third Committee Member

Britton Kenneth Ruebush

Download

Share

COinS