Social Capital and Generosity

Although much is known about the individual-level predictors of volunteering, charitable giving, and informal helping, less is known about how the characteristics of communities shape generosity. In this article, we assess the predicted effects of both individual- and contextual-level social capital (social networks and generalized trust) on three forms of generous behavior using the European Social Survey, which provides complete data on over 30,000 respondents in 160 regions in 19 countries. The results suggest that regional-level trust is associated with more volunteering and donating to charities. In addition, regional-level social capital (the combination of trust and social ties) predicts greater volunteering. The relationship between contextual-level social capital and informal helping is weaker.