surgery, and that they’re not being
paid to give up their organs (which is
illegal in almost every country). But
as the number of unrelated would-be
living kidney donors rose from 6.5%
of the total in 1996 to roughly 23%
today, transplant centers got worried.
Why were people with neither a bio-
logic nor emotional relationship with
a recipient stepping up like this?
Surgeons argue they need psy-
chological evaluation of prospec-
tive donors, because living kidney
donation “caused concern” about
“donor psychological status andThe Science of Selflessness
Why do some people put their lives at risk for the sake of strangers?
Research is uncovering the traits that lead to extreme altruism.ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sharon Begley is senior science writer
with STAT, a national health and medicine
publication. She is also author of Tr a in Yo ur
Mind, Change Your Brain and most recently
Can’t Just Stop: An Investigation of Compulsions
(2017, Simon & Schuster).motivation.” Be on the lookout, they
warn, for “past or ongoing psychi-
atric symptoms or disorders” and
for “ulterior motives,” such as “to
atone or gain approval, to stabilize
self-image, or to remedy psychologi-
cal malady.” Great Britain considered
such altruism so pathological that
living kidney donation was illegal
there until 2006.
“Altruistic reasons for stranger
donation are acceptable,” said Harvey
Mysel, president of the Living Kidney
Donors Network. “But transplant
centers want to be sure of the →To get a sense of how the world
views extraordinary altruism, con-
sider what you go through if you want
to donate a kidney to a stranger.
Naturally, transplant centers
demand rigorous screening to be sure
donors are healthy enough to undergoWHILE
EMPATHY IS
NECESSARY,
THE RESEARCH
SHOWS IT IS
FAR FROM
SUFFICIENT.32 mindful August 2019 By Sharon Begley • Illustrations by Edmon de Harobrain science