Tips for raising generous children »
Posted By tehranchik 6 months, 1 week ago in FamilyIf parents want to raise generous children, what works? Years of looking into which youth experiences best predict giving by adults offer some clues.
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tehranchik
Well, I'm from and live in the Pacific Northwest. I did live in the middle east during the late 70's and early 80 ...
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DrCarlHindy6 months ago
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This research demonstrates empirically the importance of childhood experiences such as observing parents helping others, volunteering to help others, belonging to helping organizations, and so on, in predicting later generosity as an adult.
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I think it's even more important than predicting how much someone will donate as an adult. I'll bet it predicts to greater happiness -- a greater satisfaction and sense of meaning in life -- and better resiliance from the perils of self-absorption (anxiety, self-doubt, worries stemming from material successes and failure, etc).
It reminds me of one early 20th Century psychoanalyst who followed Freud then later broke with him over differences in beliefs about basic human motivations. Alfred Adler. I think he had a better idea! Adler wrote of the importance of "social interest," the motivation to further the welfare of others, to get outside of ourselves. Can we imagine being more fulfilled not by the "improve yourself" banter that we hear every day now, but by looking more outside of ourselves?
Carl Hindy, Ph.D.
Nashua NH Clinical Psychologist
http://www.hindyassociates.com
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