Natural disasters make us nicer; research has found. A study done by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that increased giving and decreased crime occur when disasters strike.
Despite the perception of widespread looting and chaos after a natural disaster, the opposite is true.
After a disaster strikes, monetary contributions decline in the area affected by the aftermath of the natural disaster. However, neighboring and more distant communities react by increasing charitable giving.
On top of the overall increase in giving, the study finds natural disasters affect crime negatively, causing crime rates to go down.
The research spanned over 10 years, from 2004 to 2015, and was published in the Journal of Natural Hazards. The study analyzed data from disasters in the United States, a period that saw over 10,000 individual disasters of differing scope.
The disasters killed over 8,300 people and caused damage in excess of $100 billion.
