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This book examines the similarities and differences in altruism across cultures. It explores the role of altruism in ritual and religion and analyzes the interplay of biology and culture in altruism.

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Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective provides such a scholarly overview, examining the intersection of culture and such topics as evolutionary accounts of altruism and the importance of altruism in ritual and religion.
__The past decade has seen a proliferation of research on altruism, made possible in part by significant funding from organizations such as the John Templeton Foundation. While significant research has been conducted on biological, social, and individual dimensions of altruism, there has been no attempt to provide an overview of the ways that altruistic behavior and attitudes vary across cultures. The book addresses the methodological challenges of researching altruism across cultures, as well as the ways that altruism is manifest in difficult circumstances. A particular strength of the book is its attention to multiple disciplinary approaches to understanding altruism, with contributors from fields including psychology, anthropology, sociology, biology, communication, philosophy, religious studies, gender studies, and bioethics._

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Altruism in Its Personal, Social, and Cultural Contexts: An Introduction.- Conceptual Aspects of Altruism in Cross-cultural Contexts.- Cross-cultural Variation in Altruism: Traditional Parental Manipulation and Ancestor-Descendant Conflict.- Guatemalan Adolescents´ Reports of Helping in Urban and Rural Mayan Communities.- Do We Really Like the Kind Girls and Animals?: Cross-cultural Analysis of Altruism in Folktales.- Cultural Values and Volunteering: A Cross-cultural Perspective.- Daoism and Altruism: A China-USA Perspective.- Altruism in Indian Religions: Embracing the Biosphere.- Altruism-Renouncing the Renunciant: A Discussion on Desire and Selflessness.- Spiritual Transformation and Healing: Is Altruism Integral?.- Altruism in Human Ritual.- Epilogue. To Give or Not to Give: Confessions of a Humanitarian Aid Worker.

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