Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Amon Emeka

Abstract

Does personal satisfaction with oneself impact one’s ability to put the happiness of others before their own? I hypothesize that individuals who have higher levels of self-satisfaction are less likely to practice selfless love. In this study, “self-satisfaction” is interpreted as a person’s contentment with self. “Selfless love,” which is synonymous with altruistic love, is interpreted in this study as a relationship in which one or both partners prioritize the needs of their partner before themselves. To test this hypothesis, I conduct a regression analysis (n= 667) from the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS), controlling for degree, income and gender. Results from bivariate and multivariate regression indicate that there is no statistically significant relationship between self-satisfaction and selfless love, contrary to the hypothesis. However, two of the control variables influence the dependent variable within this study. Gender has the strongest effect on selfless love, followed by level of completed education: women and those with higher levels of completed education are more likely to engage in acts of selfless love.

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