About once every three days, the average American is likely to do a good deed, according to a study released July 25 by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.
Those most likely to give unto others: regular churchgoers and worshipers. In fact, weekly service attendees performed 33 percent more altruistic acts in 2002 than those who refrained from worship, the study showed.
To the study author Tom W. Smith, that was not an altogether surprising discovery, considering the philanthropic message of most places of worship.
“For most religions, an important part of the relief system is an admonition to love other people and to do good deeds,” Smith said. “The people who attend weekly services hear that quite a lot.”
Turns out it didn’t so much matter whether they heard that message from churches in the small towns of America’s heartland or in its fast-paced cities, where just about everyone’s a stranger. Residents of both locales were just as likely to help others out, the study showed. Likewise, men and women were equally willing, or unwilling, as the case may be, to reach out.
The altruism study, which surveyed 1,366 people of all faiths, also compassion – areas where gender ended up making a big difference.
Almost half of the women responding said they were disturbed others’ problems, while only 25 percent of men empathized with others’ bad experiences.
(RNS)
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