Learn English – Word for describing the emotion of helping someone

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I am looking for a word which describes the emotion that one experiences on helping someone (friend, colleague, family, stranger). This helping out is not in the context of charity, but more of as helping out a social/societal equal. Is there any such word ?

Best Answer

I don't believe such a single word exists.

There are psychological theories that propose that all acts of altruism are ultimately self-interested, because of the feelings of satisfaction that arise. For instance, see wikipedia's article on psychological eogism or altruism. If there were a single word that meant this feeling, it would undoubtedly be invoked in such a context -- but it's not.

Since I've never heard of such a word, and can find no evidence of it existing in fields where it would naturally arise, I conclude that no such word exists in English.

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