Psychologists note there is a fascinating connection between deciding to help people who are in need and then determining that we like them after we help them.
Assisting people, in other words, helps not only the one who requires help, but apparently the act of helping others helps us to like the human race a bit more.
A fascinating example of this corollary Paul Bloom shares in his book Psych. He writes how Benjamin Franklin gave the advice that if you have an enemy go up to them and ask for help or for a favor, because in the act of helping you, or granting a favor, they will then “have to explain… why did they did a favor for you, and then they’ll conclude, they must have liked you.”
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