Why are some of us too nice?

From childhood
Aspects of our adult behaviour are often influenced by our upbringing, so a naturally kind person can start showing over-generosity from childhood.

If your parents went to great lengths to be obliging to others, you tend to follow their example. You might have heard your mum tell you that you have to be polite and please others at all times once too often, or your dad telling you to share your toys with the others, and being obliging can become ingrained.

This kind of upbringing can cause confusion in a child's identity, because he or she sees sacrifice as a natural law in life. And you can spot it in the playground: there are always over-obliging kids who will give away all their sweets or play the wolf every game.