Thursday, May 03, 2012

Humility


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Humility: A Quiet, Underappreciated Strength


Humility doesn’t top the list of popular virtues these days, but if you’re ever in need of help, a humble friend is more likely to be there for you than a prideful one, new research suggests.
Humbleness has also been linked with generosity. Studies find that the trait predicts charitable giving and generous behavior toward others in monetary games played in the lab. “Compassion is hard if you don’t have humility,” says psychologist Jordan LaBouff of the University of Maine.
What’s more, humble people tend to make better employees and bosses. But because the typical American workplace tends to reward self-promotion over humility, such modest types may have a tough time making it to the top.
Evolutionary theory suggests that humble people will be more helpful to the group because a trait that involves subsuming one’s own needs to those of others is only likely to be preserved in a species in which cooperation is necessary for survival. Humans, who are generally incapable of thriving or raising vulnerable children in the wild without help from others, are probably one such species./.../

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