Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Altruism In The Context Of Door-Courtesy Behaviors Among College Students, Landen M. Roundy, Meagan E. Griffith, Sarah E. Jensen, Joseph A. Allen

Psychology Faculty Publications

Altruism has been debated as both selfishly and selflessly motivated. Though there are many possible illustrations of altruism in daily activities, a simple model to measure altruism is observing door-holding behaviors. This study observes the door-holding behavior patterns of undergraduate college students, assessing the sex differences and the possibility of an altruistic theme within the observed population. A general sex difference was found illustrating that males hold the door more often than females. Implications of the results are discussed.