How Many People Would Sacrifice Their Life for the Family

Many people are willing to die for their families. Meetville.com (dating app to find the right person) addressed the topic of self-sacrifice in the poll, conducted from 8/26/14 to 9/5/14.

The question read: “Would you sacrifice your life for your family members?” Participants numbered 10,562, and an overwhelming majority of those polled (93%) did not hesitate to choose family as a priority. The majority of participants were from the USA - 59%.

According to David M. Allen, a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Tennessee, “The idea of self-sacrifice is particularly difficult for Americans to accept. Because of the relative emphasis on individualism versus collectivism, self-sacrifice in the service of family members, formerly seen as high virtue, is now often characterized as personality defect or self-defeating behavior.Yet it is reassuring that many people still uphold strong family values.”

Similar tendencies may be observed around the world. Out of 93% who would give up their lives for the sake of the family, 5% of respondents were from Canada, 11% - from Britain, 7% - from Australia and 18% - from other countries.

Alex Cusper, Meetville service analyst, says “Despite the fact that altruistic intent is not generally accepted by the people, altruism continues to be the most potent of motivating forces. Self-sacrifice is a powerful and essential part of social life generally, and family life in particular,” he concludes.

Meetville, a leading mobile dating service, regularly conducts research among its users. Millions of people from the U.S., Canada, Britain and Australia answer hundreds of questions every month. You can find the results of the poll here. If you are interested in research on a particular topic, please contact us. Any reprint of the material should be followed by clickable links to the survey.