The Experience of Self-Transcendence in Social Activists.

Self-transcendent social activists—people who dedicate their lives to serving the greater good without seeking personal recognition—experience their lives as joyful, deeply fulfilled, and impactful. Through in-depth interviews with eight such activists, a theoretical model emerged explaining how their activism develops: a trigger activates their commitment, which is then maintained and sustained, resulting in impacts at individual, community, and global levels. Their actions generate positive contagion through influence, replication, leadership training, and education. The study defines 'self-transcendent social activism' and offers a model of how a deep feeling of connectedness and a vision for a better life lead to sustained, transformative community action.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Every day the wellbeing of disadvantaged individuals and communities is being transformed through the activities of self-transcendent social activists. The positive contagion generated by their actions is felt globally through influence, replication, leadership training and education. These people are visionary, brave, and describe their lives as joyful, deeply fulfilled, and impactful. Seeking no personal recognition or accolade, born from a deep feeling of connectedness and a vision of how life could be better, participants describe the factors that influenced their decision to dedicate their lives to serving the greater good. Using Constructivist Grounded Theory, in-depth semi structured interviews were carried out with eight participants who self-identified as self-transcendent social activists, who have initiated non-mandated and not-for-profit community action. Data was analyzed to explore each participant's personal experiences of self-transcendence and how being self-transcendent has manifested their life choices. The findings present a definition of 'self-transcendent social activism' and a theoretical model that explains the development of participants' activism: trigger, activate, maintain and sustain, resulting in an impact experienced at three levels - individual, community and global. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.