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June 26, 2007
Rio de Janeiro is the most helpful city in the world
The least?
Kuala Lumpur — followed by New York.
These are among the nuggets to be found in a 2001 paper by California State University at Fresno psychology professor Robert V. Levine, published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Long story short: In general, poorer cities tend to be kinder places than rich ones.
Levine's oft-cited 2003 American Scientist article, "The Kindness of Strangers," is available as a free printable download here.
[via Michael Skapinker and the Financial Times]
June 26, 2007 at 10:01 AM | Permalink
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Comments
I fear the authors childhood has continuted to influence his life. Why no mention of more major cities comparable to New York? Where are Tokyo, London, Paris, San Francisco, Miami? As an American, always beleaguered by my compatriots impressions of non-american countries, I can offer many anecdotes of kindness to strangers. The subway guard in Paris at the Etoile leaping over a turnstyle to help a novice American manage to get to the right train. The passerby in London offering unsolicited but much needed advice on which way to turn to get to the British Museum. The airport clerk doing everything in his power to help a family get last minute unplanned for credentials which included a lone notary in Miami so that the family could take a vacation in a foreign destination. The list goes on. I have been most thankfully helped by so many no matter where I have turned. Perhaps we don't always recognize help when it is being given.
Posted by: Larry | Jun 26, 2007 11:52:14 PM
