Author

Suzanne Hodge

Date Approved

2008

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department or School

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Committee Member

Jay Weinstein, PhD, Chair

Committee Member

Robert Orrange, PhD

Committee Member

Hugh Semple, PhD

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the motivation of those who take time from their lives to help others. The research will look at altruistic attitudes and behaviors around the world and determine whether individuals exhibiting these behaviors believe in a common humanity. It will consider what the individual says he believes and how or if he chooses to act on those beliefs. The statistics used for the analysis of the World Values Survey Waves 2 and 4 in this paper are cross tabulations, factor analysis, including assigning factor scores to each observation, Pearson’s correlation, linear regression, and an independent samples t-test. These techniques were used to describe the data, to reduce selected groups of related variables to a few new variables, to test the relationship between and among the newly created variables, and to compare the new variables over time. The finding will show that there is no relationship in Waves 2 and 4 of the World Value Survey as defined by Monroe’s theory.

Included in

Sociology Commons

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