Reputation Outlook

Social Responsibility: Most People Have Good Intentions but Only a Small Minority Really Practice What They Preach

Only Eight Percent are Extremely Involved in Giving Time or Money

It is easy to point the finger and say corporations should be more socially responsible, but when it comes to individual social responsibility, two-thirds of U.S. adults have "Good Intentions" they believe that social responsibility is a good idea, and they do what they can in terms of volunteering, but they do not sacrifice huge amounts of time or money. At the top end of the spectrum, 8 percent of U.S. adults "Practice What They Preach" and for this group, individual, as well as corporate, social responsibility is extremely important. One-quarter of U.S. adults, however, follow a philosophy of "To Thine Own Self Be True" and, for this group, social responsibility has little consequence in their lives.

These are just some of the results of a Harris Poll of 2,383 U.S. adults conducted online between May 8 and 14, 2007 by Harris Interactive.
How the Three Groups Were Determined

Three measures were used to gauge individuals level of individual social responsibility. First, we looked at attitudes; i.e. how important is it to be involved with community, civic and social causes. Second we viewed behaviors; in particular how active people are with donating time or money to causes. Finally, we measured how much the individual takes into consideration a company's reputation for social responsibility when making purchasing decisions. From this, an index emerged. Each person who answered at the lowest end of the scale (i.e., least socially responsible) received one point for that response, while those who answered at the top of the scale received four points. Adding the points together for all three questions yielded an Individual Social Responsibility Index score (between 3 and 12) for each respondent. The three groups represent the high (10 to 12), middle (7 to 9), and low (3 to 6) ranges of that index.

Replies to Specific Questions

In addition to analyzing the results in terms of the three groups, some of the specific responses to the questions are worth noting:

Just under one-third (31%) believe "people have a personal responsibility to make the world a better place by being actively involved with various issues and causes." Most people do not feel so strongly;
Only 8 percent of adults say that they are "extremely involved in giving time and/or money to organizations and causes" in which they believe; and
Only 16 percent say that a company's reputation for social responsibility has a strong effect on their decisions about what to buy and with whom to do business.

Demographic Differences for the Three Groups

The younger one is, the more likely they are to be true to their own self. One-third of Echo Boomers (ages 18 to 30) and 29 percent of Gen Xers (ages 31 to 42) fall into this category as compared to just 17 percent of Matures (62 and older) and 22 percent of Baby Boomers (ages 43 to 61). Education also seems directly related the less educated one is, the more likely they are to be "true to their own self". Three in ten of those with a high school or less graduation are part of this group as compared to 18 percent of those with either a college degree or a post graduate degree.

Gender also shows some interesting differences. Men are more likely than women to both practice what they preach (10% versus 7%) and are also more likely to "be true to their own self" (28% versus 23%). Women, however, are more likely to have good intentions 70 percent as compared to 63 percent. With regard to race, Hispanics are more likely than both Blacks and Whites to practice what they preach (13% versus 9% and 7%).

While those who have household incomes of above $75,000 a year are the income group that is most likely to practice what they preach (12%), this does not come at the expense of being true to themselves. One-quarter of this highest income group falls into this lowest category of individual responsibility compared to 23 percent of those who have household incomes of $35,000 to $49,999 and 21 percent of those with incomes of $50,000 to $74,999.

Politically, it is often said that Republicans think of themselves while Democrats think of others, but according to our study, there is not much of a difference between the two when it comes to social responsibility. In fact, Republicans may be slightly more socially responsible than Democrats. One-quarter of Democrats (24%) are "true to their own self" compared to 22 percent of Republicans and nine percent of Republicans and 8 percent of Democrats each practice what they preach. The difference between Conservatives and Liberals is a bit more pronounced. One in ten Conservatives practice what they preach while 21 percent of them are true to their own self. One in 20 Liberals (5%) practice what they preach while 27 percent of them are true to their own self.

So What?

Many surveys have documented the large number of people who do good work, volunteer their time or give money to their churches, charities and/or organizations that advocate for causes they care about. What this survey shows is that only small minorities do this aggressively, practicing what they preach. For the great majority, volunteering and charitable giving, or social responsibility, is a much more marginal activity.

TABLE 1

PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT

"As you may know, people's attitudes differ very widely concerning how involved they want to be with community, civic, and social causes including things like voluntary service, donating to charities, or getting involved in community activities. Which statement best describes your attitude about this subject?"

Base: All adults

	Total
	%
A person's main concern is to look out for his or her own interests, not to be involved with social causes.	1
People can get involved with different issues and causes if they want to, but no one should feel obligated to do so.	40
People generally should take part in such things because it is the right thing to do.	19
People have personal responsibility to make the world a better place by being actively involved with various issues and causes.	31
Not sure	9