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I often hear people criticize modern society. Just a few weeks ago, during a conversation with a friend, he said to me, 'People today are so selfish; they don't help each other like they used to'. It really made me think, because this isn't the first time I've heard this kind of criticism, it's verily common. In fact, many seem to believe that people were more altruistic in the past, more willing to lend a hand. But I started wondering: is that really the case? It seems that this phenomenon is not actually due to a change in the character of new generations or in education, a study from the University of Birmingham clearly demonstrates this: scarcity can stimulate altruism more than abundance. And now, in many countries, people live in abundance compared to 50 years ago.
For this study, the researchers involved over 500 people in experiments that tested their willingness to help. The test was simple, they were asked to watch a documentary, and during it, some rewards would appear on the screen, at that point they were offered two options: they could choose to keep the rewards for themselves or make an extra physical effort, for example, by squeezing a device, to donate the reward to someone else they didn't know randomly. To simulate abundance or scarcity the scientists manipulated the environment: for some cases the rewards were frequent and of high value, simulating an abundant environment while in others, they were rare and modest, simulating a scarce environment. In the poor ones, the willingness to help increased significantly, while in the rich ones it decreased.
The mechanism behind this behavior is quite interesting and introduces the concept of perceived cost, when the rewards for oneself are abundant, the perceived cost of giving something to others is high, when they are scarce, helping weighs less and becomes more likely. Obviously the tendency to prioritize oneself, the so-called self-bias, is still present, but it is clearly influenced by the environment. In other words, generosity is not a fixed quality: it is relative, influenced by how much the world around us offers us, and how much we perceive it costs to help someone.
It makes me reflect: this study shows an uncomfortable truth, we live in a world saturated with possibilities of abundance and making space for others requires awareness and becomes increasingly difficult as we live in well-being. Maybe a little scarcity every now and then wouldn't hurt to remind us that helping someone is a choice, sometimes simple, other times less so, but always meaningful. Today we have everything, but generosity and altruism?
References: Vogel, T.A., Priestley, L., Cutler, J. et al. Humans are more prosocial in poor foraging environments. Nat Commun 17, 483 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66880-9
