Thursday, June 19, 2003
And the Friendliest City on Earth Is...
LONDON (Reuters) - It's crowded and dangerous but Rio de Janeiro is the friendliest city in the world, followed by San Jose in Costa Rica and Madrid, according to a new study.
Residents in Kuala Lumpur, New York, Singapore and Amsterdam are the least likely to help strangers in need, which made theirs the least friendly cities in a survey of 23 countries.
"It all comes down to simpatico, a Brazilian word that describes a person who possesses certain qualities such as friendliness and openness," New Scientist said Wednesday.
According to a six-year study by Robert Levine of California State University at Fresno and a group of social psychologists, Brazilians have simpatico in spades which is why Rio topped their list.
When the researchers conducted tests of the willingness of residents to help strangers, they found that Latin American cities, where social relationships are highly valued, came out on top.
Many of the poorest and least stable cities were the friendliest while people in overcrowded, fast paced ones were less likely to help strangers.
"This suggests environment has a greater influence than ethnicity or cultural background," the magazine said.
The findings also support the "stimulus overload" theory of social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1970s who suggested that people in crowded environments cope by ignoring emergency situations and depersonalizing strangers, it added.
Here is another Article that explains the study in more detail.
New Yorkers made verbal attempts to help and I think that should count as being friendly and helpful but it's not counted in this study.
New Yorkers don't have Simpatico :(.
LONDON (Reuters) - It's crowded and dangerous but Rio de Janeiro is the friendliest city in the world, followed by San Jose in Costa Rica and Madrid, according to a new study.
Residents in Kuala Lumpur, New York, Singapore and Amsterdam are the least likely to help strangers in need, which made theirs the least friendly cities in a survey of 23 countries.
"It all comes down to simpatico, a Brazilian word that describes a person who possesses certain qualities such as friendliness and openness," New Scientist said Wednesday.
According to a six-year study by Robert Levine of California State University at Fresno and a group of social psychologists, Brazilians have simpatico in spades which is why Rio topped their list.
When the researchers conducted tests of the willingness of residents to help strangers, they found that Latin American cities, where social relationships are highly valued, came out on top.
Many of the poorest and least stable cities were the friendliest while people in overcrowded, fast paced ones were less likely to help strangers.
"This suggests environment has a greater influence than ethnicity or cultural background," the magazine said.
The findings also support the "stimulus overload" theory of social psychologist Stanley Milgram in the 1970s who suggested that people in crowded environments cope by ignoring emergency situations and depersonalizing strangers, it added.
Here is another Article that explains the study in more detail.
New Yorkers made verbal attempts to help and I think that should count as being friendly and helpful but it's not counted in this study.
New Yorkers don't have Simpatico :(.
