8 Scientific Reason Why People Are The Worst
8. Children Are Inherently Selfish
Lets start from the very beginning.
You were probably a child at some point, which means that you were almost certainly a selfish one. Don't feel bad about it, everyone was. Up until about the age of five or so, kids are completely egocentric, meaning that they have an excessive reliance on their own point of view and are pretty much incapable of seeing things from another person's perspective. Even though, when asked what they think another person is feeling or thinking, children will often offer a suggestion (rather than simply saying "I don't know"), this is usually just a projection of a child's own feelings.
This egocentrism means that very young children are simply unable to even comprehend the concept of sharing. Even when we do start sharing, the theory goes that we're only doing it because we get something out of it, whether it's a like-for-like reciprocation or an increase in reputation or status. A study by Yale and the University of Chicago found that children are more generous when they know that other people will know about it, whereas if their generosity is anonymous, they are considerably more selfish.
Although we (hopefully) grow out of our pathological egocentrism, we unfortunately don't grow out of this second stage of strategic pro-sociality. To test whether you have or not, just ask yourself whether you would be more likely to make a large donation to charity anonymously or with some kind of public acknowledgement ... and be honest with yourself about it or it won't work.