Is Convenience a Factor in Altruistic Behavior During Disaster?

• In Event: Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Movements as Responses to Crises

Abstract

Studies show a positive correlation between altruism and prosocial behavior during routine times, yet unexpected environmental triggers (like a disaster) for prosocial and altruistic behavior are underexplored (Pagnini, et al, 2025; Kleber, Hartyl, Hofmann, and Gölly, 2024; Manzur and Olavarrieta, 2021). People who score highly on the self-reported altruism scale (SRA) are more likely to engage in volunteer activities like donating blood. What about altruistic and prosocial behavior during disaster? What are the characteristics of altruistic people? Respondents at three different universities completed an anonymous survey for a total sample size of 182. The original purpose of that survey was to explore how perception of risk (to COVID-19) may or may not impact people's behavior and included the self-reported altruism scale (SRA). Descriptive assessments of all variables were conducted as well as crosstabs with ANOVA means comparisons. Data from our first study support our hypothesis that that people with higher levels of altruism are more likely to engage in pandemic-related (disaster) helping behavior. But what about the relationship between cost or inconvenience of the helping behavior and how much someone helps? This study weighs altruistic behavior by degree of cost so we can explore to what extent, if any, the level of inconvenience may impact altruistic behavior. Data from our study will also allow us to engage in cross-race and gender analyses, in addition to comparative analyses of self-identified politically leaning categories (progressive, conservate and moderate). Early findings from this study revealed that people who scored highly on the SRA reported barriers to practicing altruistic and prosocial behavior. Better understanding these barriers may enable us to remove them. These are valuable findings for our collective understanding of the nuances of altruistic behavior and how communities may leverage help at the local level.

Authors

• brenda vollman, CUNY BMCC

• Bethany Lee Van Brown, Sacred Heart University