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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

self-interested

English answer:

self-serving

Added to glossary by Patsy Florit
Apr 8, 2011 21:06
13 yrs ago
English term

self-interested

English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
I´m looking for an adjective to define aperson who always helps others but only for his own self-interest! He might seem generous or caring but he´s not. He only thinks in himself, he knows that his help will eventually be good for him.
Responses
4 +7 self-serving
4 +2 opportunist / helpful to one's own advantage
4 out for number one
4 egocentric
3 falsely altruistic
3 helpful for one's own gain (benefit)
3 disingenuously altruistic
3 mercenary
3 -1 Chancer

Discussion

Patsy Florit (asker) Apr 9, 2011:
Thanks to everybody for your help. I´ve learnt a lot. It´s time to close this question. Thanks again.
Lara Barnett Apr 9, 2011:
Qualifying adjective Well as I said in he beginning. "Self serving:
Self serving exists as a word but does not necessarily incorporate the "helpful" side of this person's character. However, if you wanted to use it, you could, as described above, structure it into a phrase such as:....."
AllegroTrans Apr 9, 2011:
I have looked in the various Thesauri on line, and I cannot find a one-word adjective that quite fits this. Does the asker really need a single adjective? Time to close this one perhaps?
Lara Barnett Apr 9, 2011:
What about "only offers help when he benefits himself."
Veronika McLaren Apr 9, 2011:
French anyone? L'amour-propre est plus habile que le plus habile homme du monde (F. de la RocheFoucauld).
Bernhard Sulzer Apr 9, 2011:
@Patsy, Lara, and all Since it seems "self-serving" is still garnering agrees - again, where is the "help" aspect? IMO, a one-part word such as "ingratiating" gets close to describing the character of the person the poster suggests, but it still lacks much of the actual "helping" part. Also, as Paul mentioned, more context would be necessary to get this right. Are we just talking about a brown noser, ... kisser or somebody who goes all the way out to help another person just to gain favor from that person? What is that "better result" for this "inglorious altruist"?
@ Lara: helpful to one's own advantage might be said about something a person uses to his/her advantage, but to characterize him/her, it should IMO be "(he/she) is helpful for one's own... (as I suggested).
Lara Barnett Apr 9, 2011:
Exactly So, as I have suggested in earlier discussion entry, if you were to explain use the term "using the opportunity of helping others to his own advantage/benefit" it could work.
Rachel Fell Apr 9, 2011:
Well, you could say he's a user - but that doesn't encompass the idea of helping others
Lara Barnett Apr 9, 2011:
Using Yes using is a good term, perhaps "using the opportunity to help for his own benefit"...similar to my suggestion below actually.
Patsy Florit (asker) Apr 9, 2011:
He seems to be helping the person but perhaps he´s just "using" the person more than helping him since the result is better for him than for the one being helped.
Paul Lambert Apr 9, 2011:
Intriguing I would never think of "self-interested" in a negative or cynical way. Concern with one's own interests seems natural and healthy.

It would be interesing to get the full context in which you find this term. If helping another person is only a good thing if the benefactor suffers, then we have problems.

I agree with LaraBarnett that "self-serving" does not entail an element of helpfulness. Then again, why such terms should have so much moral baggage attached would depend on context.
Lara Barnett Apr 8, 2011:
Quantifier/adjective It is actually important, as I have mentioned in my answer to include the element of helpfulness, "Self serving exists as a word but does not necessarily incorporate the "helpful" side of this person's character. However, if you wanted to use it, you could, as described above, structure it into a phrase..."
Lara Barnett Apr 8, 2011:
@ Asker - helpfulness As you are implying that the helpfulness is present in this character, albeit to gain his own advantage, this may be an element that you will need to paraphrase. There are many words to show opportunism/self interest/self serving etc , but if you want to be specific here, one word might not do it (in UK English anyway).
mediamatrix (X) Apr 8, 2011:
@Tariq Please post your suggestions as an answer, rather than in this discussion box, so colleagues can comment on your ideas in the prescribed manner.
Patsy Florit (asker) Apr 8, 2011:
This person is helpful, he does help the other person but only because the result will benefit him.
trsk2000 (X) Apr 8, 2011:
"mercenary?" self-serving does not denote that someone is being of any help, or that they are coming to someone's aid and have an ulterior motive to help themselves in the process. What does everyone think of the word "mercenary" here? Not in the military sense, but to describe someone who is mercenary, that they are motivated by money/material gain or what they can get out of a situation to their own advantage?...
trsk2000 (X) Apr 8, 2011:
use of quantifier self-serving might sound somewhat incomplete, it is one of those adjectives that might require a quantifier or that precedes an insulting name, i.e "he is completely self-serving", "he's a self-serving ****".
Lara Barnett Apr 8, 2011:
Yes You don't need to say person, but this also depends on the rest of the context. However, bear in mind that self-serving does not contain "helpful" element.
trsk2000 (X) Apr 8, 2011:
I would leave out person and just say "he's self-serving"
Patsy Florit (asker) Apr 8, 2011:
Can I say "he´s a self-serving person"?

Responses

+7
4 mins
Selected

self-serving

adjective. serving one's own selfish interests, esp. at the expense of others
www.yourdictionary.com/self-serving
Peer comment(s):
agree Demi Ebrite
48 mins
agree MedTrans&More : I agree with Tariq, that it may need some sort of modifier/quantifier, but self-serving is generally the idea
52 mins
agree AllegroTrans : and possibly also self-centred
1 hr
agree Jack Doughty
2 hrs
agree Phong Le
3 hrs
agree Allison Wright (X)
10 hrs
agree Aleksander Pruszyński
10 hrs
neutral Lara Barnett : How does this suggestion show the helpful aspect of this character trait?
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks, this answer will do, I´ll structure it into a phrase."
-1
39 mins

Chancer

British English:

Definition of CHANCER:

a scheming opportunist

Examples of CHANCER
<a two-faced chancer, he doesn't hesitate to dump people when they are no longer of any use>
<betrayed by a chancer who, she mistakenly thought, was her friend>

Just a thought!
Reference:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chancer+

Peer comment(s):
disagree AllegroTrans : no, a chancer is someone who is a "a reckless, improvident, often somewhat unscrupulous opportunist" (Webster's) although granted he/she might also be "in it for himself"
32 mins
Thanks, AllegroTrans.
Something went wrong...
46 mins

falsely altruistic

Freakonomics » The False Altruism of Alumni Giving - [ Traducir esta página ]The False Altruism of Alumni Giving. Post by: Melissa Lafsky July 11, 2007 at 3: 41 pm. Can a charitable act truly be called charitable when the contributor ...
www.freakonomics.com/.../the-false-altruism-of-alumni-givin... - En caché

False Dichotomies - [ Traducir esta página ]An example of the non-exhaustive categorization occurs in the false selfish/ altruist dichotomy. In this sense selfish is meant to be actions that benefit ...
rebirthofreason.com/.../False_Dichotomies.shtml - En caché - Similares

Altruistic Impulses : Antisocial Personality Disorder Forum - Page 3 - [ Traducir esta página ]28 Dec 2010 ... On the subject of true vs. false altruism, I'll clarify that I don't believe any real human being is perfectly selfless. ...
www.psychforums.com/antisocial.../topic58156-20.html - En caché

Altruism Versus Self-Interest: Sometimes a False Dichotomy - [ Traducir esta página ]most human behavior, including so-called altruistic behavior, was false. The researchers broke this theory down into several components and, on ...
journals.cambridge.org/article_S0265052500004039The heart of altruism: perceptions of a common humanity - Resultado de Google Books
Kristen Renwick Monroe - 1998 - Philosophy - 314 páginas
In The Heart of Altruism, Kristen Renwick Monroe boldly lays the groundwork for a social theory receptive to altruism by examining the experiences described by ...
books.google.cl/books?isbn=0691058474...
Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : it's not "wrong" but I think it understates the "self" centred idea
26 mins
The concept of 'self(lessness)' is embedded in that of 'altruism' so, when rendered negatively by preceding it with 'falsely', your concept of 'self-centred' is implicit.
Something went wrong...
1 hr

out for number one

not a i-worder, but I think it strongly conveys the idea
Something went wrong...
7 hrs
English term (edited): self-interested

helpful for one's own gain (benefit)

or: helpful for self-gain // for egoistic reasons

You are suggesting that there are people who assist others only because they get something out of it themselves (gain favor, a promotion, etc.). Then I would be interested in who they are deceiving - certainly not the people they help (unless those being helped are the ones also doing the rewarding themselves - but even then, they have been helped) - but somebody who looks at their "fake" altruistic actions and says, yeah, buddy, you're a great human being and I will reward you for that.
The difference between the real altruistic and the fake altruistic person is in the eye of the beholder and inside the helper's mind but not easily detected by those who have been helped - at least that seems to be implied here.

I hope people are smarter than not seeing through a fake - unless the fake puts on one hell of a show - especially if he/she is actually helping people. But what does it matter if such a "selfish" person’s procedure is their credo and goes on helping? If he/she stops and becomes horrendously (and obviously) egoistic, will he/she retain their position of favor or power?
I truly hope there aren't too many people like that out there - but even if they are, they are helping others, so they can't be plainly "selfish". Or "selfishly unselfish"? Or are they?

Maybe the context is more in the way of a brown noser or somebody always playing up to somebody, a pretender. a boot licker, etc. and it's more about little favors and kissing up to somebody.

I also thought of “deceitfully unselfish" but how can one call them "unselfish" if they are really helping people?

there is another word that comes close:

ingratiatory / ingratiating - long version:
calculated to please or gain favor

http://www.answers.com/topic/ingratiatory
Meaning #2: calculated to please or gain favor

http://www.answers.com/topic/ingratiating#ixzz1IzUhj17e

1. Pleasing; agreeable: "Reading requires an effort-=@ellipsis4=- Print is not as ingratiating as television" (Robert MacNeil).
2. Calculated to please or win favor: an unctuous, ingratiating manner.

adjective

Purposefully contrived to gain favor: ingratiatory, insinuating, saccharine, sugary. See pain/pleasure.
------------------------------------------------------

But the problem is the helpfulness - for somebody who helps for self-gain, even "ingratiating" doesn't really do justice but it's close.






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Note added at 16 hrs (2011-04-09 13:58:59 GMT)
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Correction:
I also thought of “deceitfully unselfish" but how can one call them "deceitfully unselfish" if they are really helping people?
Something went wrong...
12 hrs

disingenuously altruistic


Economic Development and the Contours of U.S. Foreign Policy: The ...
by H Brands - 2008 - Related articles
type of rhetoric, though vague and disingenuously altruistic, nonetheless underscores the central intellectual precept of U.S. development programs: ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2008...x/pdf

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Note added at 14 hrs (2011-04-09 11:36:09 GMT)
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I mean, you could say he's helpful to other, but a "user at heart" or something.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 17 hrs (2011-04-09 14:15:01 GMT)
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I meant "...he's helpful to others,..."
Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : doesn't really covey the "out for himself" aspect; altruism is much too pure a quality for this even if disingenuously used
3 hrs
maybe so, in which case my latter comment...
Something went wrong...
17 hrs

egocentric

Another valid option...
Something went wrong...
19 hrs

mercenary

see discussion please
Peer comment(s):
neutral AllegroTrans : isn't a mercenary someone who only does "almost anything" (e.g. fighting for a cause he doesn't actually care about) for personal gain? I don't think this really sums up the kind of person the asker refers to
4 hrs
Something went wrong...
+2
17 mins

opportunist / helpful to one's own advantage

"Opportunist
— n
1. a person who adapts his actions, responses, etc, to take advantage of opportunities, circumstances, etc
— adj
2. taking advantage of opportunities and circumstances in this way
oppor'tunism"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/opportunist

To show this person's "helpful but for his own interests" character, you could also construct a short phrase, rather than look for one word that might not contain all the meaning you want.

For example,
"helpful but with an egocentric bias"
"willing to help so long as it is to his own advantage"
"Always looking to benefit from his opportunistic behaviour)"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 mins (2011-04-08 21:26:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Self serving:
Self serving exists as a word but does not necessarily incorporate the "helpful" side of this person's character. However, if you wanted to use it, you could, as described above, structure it into a phrase such as:
"helpful whilst serving his own interests"
"helpful but self serving"
This link explains meaning of self serving:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/self serving

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Note added at 23 hrs (2011-04-09 20:39:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"only offers help when he benefits himself"
or
"only offers help when he gain his own advantage"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 23 hrs (2011-04-09 20:40:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

TYPO:
Above should read
"only offers help for his own advantage"
Peer comment(s):
agree trsk2000 (X) : I am totally lost for a single word that incorporates all the elements that the questioner has mentioned, but the paraphrasing is a very good solution here
33 mins
Thank you.
agree Veronika McLaren
23 hrs
Thank you.
Something went wrong...
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