Are Humans Inherently Good Or Evil?

Are humans inherently good or evil? Are we born altruistic saints who are temporarily corrupted by bad influences, or are we born selfish sinners who need taming by society? The debate over human nature is probably as old as humanity itself. What does psychology say about this question? Here are some studies that shed light on whether humans are inherently good or bad.

Disclaimer: If you can relate to any of these signs, please do not take this feedback as an attack on your character. This video was meant to be a self-improvement guide for those of you who have been feeling a little stuck.

Writer: Brian Cham
Script Editor: Caitlin McColl
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
VO: Amanda Silvera (www.youtube.com/amandasilvera)
Animator: Mico Flores
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

References:
Blass, T. (Ed.). (1999). Obedience to authority: Current perspectives on the Milgram paradigm.
Crockett, M. J., Kurth-Nelson, Z., Siegel, J. Z., Dayan, P., & Dolan, R. J. (2014). Harm to others outweighs harm to self in moral decision making. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(48), 17320-17325.
Gintis, H. (2000). Strong reciprocity and human sociality. Journal of theoretical biology, 206(2), 169-179.
Mendes, N., Steinbeis, N., Bueno-Guerra, N., Call, J., & Singer, T. (2018). Preschool children and chimpanzees incur costs to watch punishment of antisocial others. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(1), 45-51.
Montada, L. (1998). Belief in a just world: A hybrid of justice motive and self-interest?. In Responses to victimizations and belief in a just world (pp. 217-246). Springer, Boston, MA.
Schulz, K., Rudolph, A., Tscharaktschiew, N., & Rudolph, U. (2013). Daniel has fallen into a muddy puddle–Schadenfreude or sympathy?. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 363-378.
Ulber, J., Hamann, K., & Tomasello, M. (2015). How 18-and 24-month-old peers divide resources among themselves. Journal of experimental child psychology, 140, 228-244