Science, Tech, Math › Social Sciences Altruism Share Flipboard Email Print Social Sciences Sociology Key Concepts Major Sociologists Deviance & Crime News & Issues Research, Samples, and Statistics Recommended Reading Psychology Archaeology Economics Ergonomics Maritime By Ashley Crossman Updated March 06, 2017 Definition: Altruism is the tendency to see the needs of others as more important than one’s own and to therefore be willing to sacrifice for others. In one of his major books (Suicide) Emile Durkheim saw altruism as the basis for patterns of suicide in some societies in which people might identify so strongly with a group or community that they would readily sacrifice themselves to protect its interests or to uphold its traditions. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Crossman, Ashley. "Altruism." ThoughtCo, Jan. 29, 2020, thoughtco.com/altruism-definition-3026050. Crossman, Ashley. (2020, January 29). Altruism. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/altruism-definition-3026050 Crossman, Ashley. "Altruism." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/altruism-definition-3026050 (accessed January 23, 2021). copy citation