Yuchen Ling

Yuchen Ling

December 31, 2025

College students receiving assistance, Shame, Altruistic behavior, Moral philosophy.

Shame, as a common emotional experience among college students receiving assistance, presents a unique and complex impact on altruistic behavior. This article is based on the four moral philosophical paradigms of deontological ethics, virtue ethics, emotivism, and social contract theory, and deeply analyzes the internal theoretical texture of the effect of shame on altruistic behavior of college students receiving assistance. Research has found that the shame among college students receiving assistance stems from moral cognitive conflicts related to "lack of autonomy", "lack of moral character", and "contract imbalance", which inhibit altruistic behavior through social avoidance mechanisms. The essence of this difference lies in the cognitive differences between two groups regarding moral identity, sources of obligation, and social relationships. This article proposes based on the theoretical interpretation of moral philosophy that it is necessary to maintain moral autonomy, cultivate contextualized morality, reconstruct sympathetic connections, and improve reciprocal contracts, in order to provide ethical paths for cultivating altruistic behavior of college students receiving assistance and enrich the moral philosophical connotation of supporting education.

© 2025, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license