A survey conducted among Israelis ahead of Yom Kippur has found that politeness pays. The survey entitled "Is it worth it to be Polite? Israel’s First National Survey of Politeness," which was carried out by the Jerusalem Institute of Marketing Studies (JIMS), found that there is a correlation between the level of a person's politeness and the level of their income. JIMS also investigated the connection between politeness and higher education as well as other attributes. The survey also thinks that this Yom Kippur, Israelis have much to ask forgiveness for.

The survey covered a representative sample of 992 adult Jewish Israelis. Questions tackled such topics as talking on cellular telephones in public, driving, attitudes to the elderly and people with disabilities, use of crude language, and more. Respondents were asked to discuss how they behaved in these areas and on the basis of their answers they were given a "politeness grade" on a scale of zero to 4.

The survey found that there is no correlation between higher education and the level of a person's politeness and that it is also irrelevant whether a person is married or not and how many children they have. On the other hand, the survey found that the more polite a person is then the higher is their income. Each 10% that a person's politeness grade rises is worth 5.8% more in the family's income.

In every area the survey found that men are less polite than women, immigrants are more polite than native born Israelis, haredi (ultra-orthodox) Israelis are more polite than their religious, traditional and secular compatriots, and older people are more polite than young people.

The survey found that: 78% of Israelis always or frequently encountered people talking loudly in public on their cellular phone; 71% always or frequently found people driving aggressively or without caution, and 53% frequently heard crude language in public places.

The survey also compared its findings to a similar survey conducted in the US. 28% of Israelis said that they encountered discourteous behavior in public places compared with 19% in the US. However, the level of impoliteness encountered in stores and malls (31%), work (13%), at airports (13%) and in the neighborhood (9%) was similar or lower than the US findings.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 14, 2010

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