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The influence of neighborhood crime and income on altruism : the Lost Letter Technique as a Measurement of the Influence of Neighborhood Crime and Income on Altruistic Behavior

Kranenberg, Laura (2013) The influence of neighborhood crime and income on altruism : the Lost Letter Technique as a Measurement of the Influence of Neighborhood Crime and Income on Altruistic Behavior.

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Abstract:This study aims to investigate the relationship between neighborhood crime, income and altruism. Furthermore the relation between structural neighborhood characteristics, descriptive neighborhood characteristics and altruism was examined. We performed a Lost Letter Study among 32 neighborhoods in the city of Hengelo, the Netherlands. The neighborhoods were different with respect to their level of crime, mean personal and household income, as well as the structural and descriptive characteristics. Overall we dropped 352 letters within the months June and July, 2013. In total 77.1% of the dropped letters were returned which is according to the existing literature an expected result. There were no significant results found between neighborhood crime and altruism. Also the personal income and the household income do not show any significant relationship with the level of altruism. Furthermore structural and descriptive neighborhood characteristics do not significantly influence the level of altruism. A whole model with all study variables also did not show an indication of a relationship between our independent variables and the outcome variable altruism. We conclude that none of the tested neighborhood characteristics does have a significant influence on the level of altruism of dwellers. Neither income, neighborhood crime nor structural or descriptive neighborhood characteristics affect the pro-social behavior of residents. Therefore we conclude that the altruism of small town dwellers in the Netherlands does not depend on the neighborhood characteristics that were focused on. The level of pro-social behavior of these residents is irrespective of the external circumstances they are living in. According to the existing literature and the present research we carefully conclude that cultural differences and the city size play a potential role in registering a difference in the level of altruism of dwellers.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:88 social and public administration
Programme:Public Administration MSc (60020)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/64517
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