PSYC Major Does Good for Evil

Junior PSYC major Eden Ejigineh, photo credit: DiamondBack

As part of a new I-Series course on the Psychology of Evil students were asked to go out and add a little bit of good back into the world.  The results, in many cases, shocked both students and the course instructor alike.

Each of the 120 students in the course had to come up with their own good deed for a stranger. Some bought a meal for a person or a family, one bought umbrellas to give to people who didn't have one in the storm, one went out with her friends and gave strangers free hugs. Other students discovered a spontaneous opportunity to do good, buying a coffee for someone who forgot their wallet, helping a WW2 veteran in a wheelchair wash his hands in a restroom, rescuing other students who were lost, dangerously intoxicated or emotionally distraught.

"I was blown away by the range and impact of their actions, but the thing that united them all was their discussion of how good it made them feel afterwards" said Dr. Roberts, the course instructor and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Psychology.

Read more about how one example led to an amazing twist and a life-changing chain of events for a man who lost his family in a car accident and wound up homeless:

BSOS: Psychology Class Aims to Understand Evil, Be the Solution
DiamondBack: Student Learns Life Lessons from Meal with Homeless Man

There were a few other examples where students got to learn of the impact their good deed had on others.  One student bought food for another person in line and the cashier was so moved by the gesture and the person's response that he paid for the next costumer's order out of his own pocket.  Another student paid for the car behind her in the drive-thru of a restaurant and learned later from a friend who worked there that the act sparked a chain of paying for the next person.

"Of course learning about the aftermath is the exception, but I hope those examples inspire students to imagine and assume what COULD have happened.  If you wouldn't bother because you won't get the credit or the feedback then you're doing it for the wrong reason anyway."

So how does this assignment fit into a course on the science of evil?

"I want students to understand that there will always be good and evil in the world, but that each of us has the ability and responsibility to do something to help shift the balance towards good.  If students understand the science of thought and behavior they have the power to change things for the better.  Even a small act can have profound effects, so when the world feels full of evil I want students to ask themselves what they are going to do right now to put a little bit of good back into it."

So how about it, Terps... what are YOU going to do to add some good back into this world?

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