Are Americans Becoming More Accepting of Strangers?

Lots of things are getting worse. The economy. Crime. Wealth and income inequality. Political discourse. But there is one aspect of our culture that has been getting better: cooperation among strangers.

Researchers analyzed 511 studies conducted in the United States between 1956 and 2017 with a total of more than 63,000 participants. They found a small, gradual increase in cooperation among strangers across the 61-year period, which they said may be linked to increases in urbanization, societal wealth, income inequality, and the number of people living alone.

There are, however, problems with the study. For one thing, these were correlations, not proven causes. For another, the majority of those studied were college students. Nevertheless, the study provides at least a glimmer of hope. Paul Van Lange, PhD, a professor of social psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and co-author of the study said, “US society may have become more individualistic, but people have not.”