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The new survey, which was taken this past spring of more than 2,000 adults living in related-family households, found that Americans gave their highest ratings to their health and community life: Overall health was rated as plus-100 on a scale of minus-200 to plus-200; community life was rated as plus-99.
Personal relationships with family and friends also scored a high average rating of plus-90.
The fourth domain — financial situations — had the lowest overall score of plus-66, no doubt a result of the recession and sluggish economy, according to the survey.
The study asked about 15 different acts of altruism, including talking with someone who is depressed, helping with housework, giving up a seat to a stranger, giving money to a charity, volunteering, helping someone find a job, or helping in another way, such as lending money. The connection between religious observance and charitable behavior was consistent across religious groups in the study, "Altruism in Contemporary America: A Report from the National Altruism Study".
The largest segment is Catholics (17.2%), although only 29.5%t of those members say they are practicing. Six percent of respondents say they are atheists and almost a third (30.3%) say they have no religious preference.
With 8,831 respondents, the 2002-2003 Gay/Lesbian Consumer Online Census is the largest and most comprehensive GLBT consumer study ever conducted.