Volunteering to help strangers seen as greater contribution than caring for friends and family

Americans believe volunteering to help strangers contributes more to society than providing care for family or friends, even though they contribute billions of dollars’ worth of labor in unpaid caregiving every year, according to research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

This perception could lead Americans of lower socioeconomic status to feel like they have less to contribute than people of higher socioeconomic status, because they often do not have the same amount of time or resources to devote to people outside of their communities.

“Over 53 million Americans provide unpaid care for adults, labor valued at over $450 billion annually. Without this essential caregiving, society would struggle to function,” said Ellen Reinhart, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar at Michigan State University and lead author of the study.

“In contrast, the 8.8 billion hours Americans volunteer every year also provides much-needed assistance and is valued at $195 billion. But how do we value these two forms of help?”

Using a series of experiments and data from a longitudinal survey, the researchers examined the differences between people with lower and higher socioeconomic status and how they perceive their contributions to society.

For the study, the researchers categorized participants with less than a four-year college degree as having lower socioeconomic status, and participants with a four-year college degree or more as having higher socioeconomic status. In general, participants with less than a four-year college degree tended to report lower incomes and a greater likelihood of working as a manual laborer or skilled tradesperson.

Researchers examined data from the Midlife Development in the United States survey, a large, longitudinal survey collected in three waves between 1995 and 2014.

Participants in the survey were asked to rate statements about their contributions to society, such as, “I have something valuable to give the world” or “My daily activities do not create anything worthwhile for my community.” They were also asked how many hours per month they spent volunteering or providing unpaid care such as transportation or help with chores to relatives or friends.

The researchers found that while people with higher socioeconomic status volunteered more frequently, those with lower socioeconomic status spent more time providing unpaid care within their social networks.

And even though people with lower socioeconomic status spent more time helping their friends and family, they said they contributed less to society than people with higher socioeconomic status who volunteered to help strangers.

“The belief that helping strangers is the gold standard of contributing seems to be a widely accepted but little recognized assumption. Our research brings this assumption to the surface and questions who it benefits and who it overlooks,” Reinhart said.

In one experiment, the researchers randomly assigned participants to read about one of three people who tutored a younger student. One person was required to tutor a younger student in an after-school program, one person chose to tutor a younger student, and one person tutored their younger cousin.

The researchers found that Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status, thought that the person who chose to tutor a stranger made a greater contribution and deserved more recognition than the other tutors.

Though people thought the person tutoring a family member was more moral than the person who was required to help, they did not think tutoring a family member made a significantly greater contribution to society. Instead, participants saw the person who volunteered to help as the most altruistic because it reflected the most choice.

These findings suggest that, as a society, we need a broader idea of what counts as a meaningful contribution, according to Reinhart.

“As the U.S. population ages, the 20% of Americans caring for an adult, most often a relative, will only increase in the coming years. To meet the growing demand for caregiving, we must value this vital labor,” Reinhart said.

“We need to do more to recognize the personal and societal importance of helping people close to home in our everyday circles and investing in these local relationships. Caregiving, perhaps especially when unpaid and with little choice involved, is still a significant contribution.”