Premium
Religion, Altruism, and Helping Strangers: A Multilevel Analysis of 126 Countries
Author(s) -
Bennett Matthew R.,
Einolf Christopher J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal for the scientific study of religion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1468-5906
pISSN - 0021-8294
DOI - 10.1111/jssr.12328
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , altruism (biology) , social capital , solidarity , social psychology , religiosity , world values survey , sociology , general social survey , helping behavior , psychology , political science , social science , law , politics
This article tests how religion relates to helping strangers, an important but rarely studied measure of social solidarity and informal social capital. It uses the Gallup World Poll, a survey with nationally representative samples of 179,961 respondents from 126 countries. It finds that religious people, members of minority religions, and people in religiously diverse countries were more likely to help a stranger. Individuals living in devout countries were more likely to help strangers even if they themselves were not religious. The results suggest that religion plays a particularly important role in promoting the prosocial norms and values that motivate helping strangers.