Or productivity. If you imagine a culture where you cannot accumulate wealth—for example, because all you produce is food (by hunting and gathering, no agriculture i.e. no land ownership), you don’t have the concept of money, the food will soon rot if not eaten, and you can only eat so much food—the people who can altruistically donate food to others would be the productive ones. And they would be noticed, because they would make good allies and sexual partners.
So even among people who obviously belong to the same social class, too much altruism feels like bragging about one’s capabilities. And how much is “too much”? Depends on (sub)cultural assumptions; if the local norm is close to zero, any altruism will be seen as a status move that deserves a counter-attack. Even in socialism, altruistic behavior signals something like “in a non-socialist society, I would be more successful than you”.
That’s… an interesting hypothesis, but it does not seem all that relevant to discussions of currently existing cultures in the developed world. None of the societies described in the OP are bands of hunter-gatherers, after all. And we should be wary of constructing just-so stories, as it is easy to be led astray…
Even in socialism, altruistic behavior signals something like “in a non-socialist society, I would be more successful than you”.
… and this is an example. The interpretation you describe here is not, in my experience, an accurate portrayal of how people in socialist societies perceive things.
Or productivity. If you imagine a culture where you cannot accumulate wealth—for example, because all you produce is food (by hunting and gathering, no agriculture i.e. no land ownership), you don’t have the concept of money, the food will soon rot if not eaten, and you can only eat so much food—the people who can altruistically donate food to others would be the productive ones. And they would be noticed, because they would make good allies and sexual partners.
So even among people who obviously belong to the same social class, too much altruism feels like bragging about one’s capabilities. And how much is “too much”? Depends on (sub)cultural assumptions; if the local norm is close to zero, any altruism will be seen as a status move that deserves a counter-attack. Even in socialism, altruistic behavior signals something like “in a non-socialist society, I would be more successful than you”.
That’s… an interesting hypothesis, but it does not seem all that relevant to discussions of currently existing cultures in the developed world. None of the societies described in the OP are bands of hunter-gatherers, after all. And we should be wary of constructing just-so stories, as it is easy to be led astray…
… and this is an example. The interpretation you describe here is not, in my experience, an accurate portrayal of how people in socialist societies perceive things.