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Humanity is a virtue linked with altruism ethics derived from the human condition. It signifies Agape and compassion towards each other. Humanity differs from mere justice in that there is a level of altruism towards individuals included in humanity more so than in the fairness found in justice. (2026). 9780195303872, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195303872 That is, humanity, and the acts of love, altruism, and social intelligence are typically individual strengths while fairness is generally expanded to all. Humanity is one of six virtues that across all cultures.
The concept of "humanity" goes back to the development of "humane" or "humanist" philosophy during the Renaissance (with predecessors in 13th-century scholasticism that stressed a concept of basic human dignity inspired by Aristotelianism) and the concept of humanitarianism in the early modern period, resulting in modern notions such as "human rights".
While these theories and concepts of kindness and altruism are found within humanity, the actions of humans in general needs further study to ascertain whether or not we can apply such virtues to humanity in general or whether these ideals are only truly found in smaller numbers.
Humanity is one of Thomas Aquinas' "Seven Heavenly Virtues". Beyond that, humanity was so important in some positivist Christian cultures that it was to be capitalized like God.
Love, in the psychological sense, is most often studied in terms of attachment to others. A degree of controversy surrounds defining and researching love in this way, as it takes away the "mystery of love." Because love is mysterious, to an extent, it is most often studied in terms of attachment theory, because it can be studied in . In infants, attachment is studied through the Strange Situation Test. Attachment to an individual, usually the mother, is determined by how distressed the infant becomes when the mother is taken out of the experimental setting. There are several models of adult attachment including the Adult Attachment Interviews and Adult Attachment Prototypes. Generally adult attachment models focus on the mental representation of the visible signs of attachment seen in infants.
Negative affect states result from lacking love. One study found that children raised in an environment that did not allow children to become attached to their preferred caregivers experienced attachment disorders. Individuals who develop securely attached have a lower likelihood of depression, high-self esteem, and less likelihood of divorce.
Kindness is most often measured by using an ad hoc metric, usually not as a trait. The Self-Report Altruism Scale and the Altruism Facet Scale for Agreeableness Measure of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) psychological assessment are often used to ask people how often they engage in altruistic behaviors and to gauge their concern for others. The former, however, only asks about 20 specific altruistic acts, leaving out a wide range of altruistic behaviors.
There are numerous benefits from kindness and altruism on both sides of the action. For some, the motivation to be kind comes from a place of egoistic motivation, and thus the benefit to them is the positive affect state they receive from the action. One study found that being kind develops pro-social skills in children, which positively effects their attachments and relationships. Additionally, Volunteering in the elderly has shown to lead to decreased risk of early death, and to mental health benefits. There is a difference between altruism as a Trait theory and as an act.
Intelligence has many psychological definitions, from Weschler's intelligence to the various theories of multiple intelligences. The CSV divides intelligence into hot and cold, hot intelligence being those intelligences related to active emotional processes. People with high social intelligence are very self-aware, and are effective organizers and leaders. Additionally, it combines elements of the other two hot intelligences, personal and emotional intelligence—personal intelligence being the internal counterpart to social intelligence and emotional intelligence being the capacity to understand emotions. The CSV highlights three social intelligence measurement scales: Factor Based Social Intelligence Tasks, Psychological Mindedness Assessment Procedure, and Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test.
Social Intelligence research is limited. However, there is much literature on the characteristics associated with social intelligence. Zaccaro et al. found social intelligence and perceptiveness to be integral to effective leadership; that is, good leaders are "social experts." Emotional intelligence, too, plays a role in leadership. Another study found that emotional intelligence enables leaders to better understand their followers, thereby enhancing their ability to influence them.
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