Altruism blossoms in neighborhoods populated with highly educated people working in high-status jobs, according to new research.
Westlake et al revealed strong and systematic variation in altruistic tendencies across urban suburbs of different socio-economic characteristics; this variance appears to be conditioned by the education and occupation level of residents in the suburb, and was not consistently influenced by economic resources or crime rate. Image credit: Sasin Tipchai.
Altruism is a universal human trait, but little is known about its within-population variation.
Socio-economic status positively impacts altruism, but specific socio-economic variables — such as economic resources, education, occupation, and crime rate — behind this relationship remain elusive.
“A person’s willingness to help a stranger depends on their socio-economic environment,” said Dr. Cyril Grueter, a researcher in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia.
“But what exactly is it about socio-economic status that makes people go out of their way to help a stranger?”
In the study, Dr. Grueter and colleagues used the so-called ‘lost-letter technique’ to analyze the association between a variety of socio-economic variables and willingness to help a stranger.
“A total of 600 letters were distributed among 20 different suburbs of Perth, Western Australia,” they explained.
“Suburbs were selected based on a number of selection criteria such as being greater than three-quarters suburban, free from any rural qualities and of sufficient size to distribute 30 letters.”
“Letters were designed to appear as though the sender had accidentally used the incorrect address of the recipient or made an error when writing it.”
“Letters featured a sender address on the back of the letter so that if choosing to act altruistically, recipients of the letter could return the letter to the sender.”
The results show that crime rate and economic resources were not associated with the likelihood of a letter being returned. Instead, it was educational attainment and occupation status that had a profound positive effect on helping behavior.
“The precise reason why altruism flourishes in areas that are populated with highly educated individuals working in high-status jobs requires further investigation,” Dr. Grueter said.
“But these results offer a fascinating glimpse into community attitudes and may also prove relevant for policy development and intervention.”
The study was published in the journal Evolutionary Human Sciences.
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Grace Westlake et al. 2019. Educational attainment is associated with unconditional helping behaviour. Evolutionary Human Sciences 1, e15; doi: 10.1017/ehs.2019.16
