Study rates Latter-day Saints high for 'prosocial behavior'

According to a recent academic study, active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “are the most prosocial members of American society."

The study, titled "Called to Serve: The Prosocial Behavior of Active Latter-day Saints," was sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice and was highlighted Friday in an article on the LDS Newsroom website. Overall, the study's authors found that Latter-day Saints "volunteer and donate significantly more than the average American and are even more generous in time and money than the upper (20 percent) of religious people in America.”

The study is based on an analysis of survey data from 2,664 church-attending Latter-day Saints living all around the United States. It found that "regardless of where they live, (Mormons) are very generous with their time and money."

That generosity extends beyond serving in church-related assignments and paying the tithing and other contributions that active Mormons are expected to pay. The study found that while church members give of their time and money to the church, they also give generously to a wide variety of other community causes and organizations.

The Newsroom article also includes an infographic that illustrates the study's findings, and concludes that Latter-day Saints share the feelings of their prophet leader, President Thomas S. Monson, who recently taught: "As we look heavenward, we inevitably learn of our responsibility to reach outward."