Sorrow and Solidarity: Why Americans Volunteered for 9/11 Relief Efforts.

Why did some Americans volunteer to provide relief to the September 11 terrorist attack victims? This paper uses data from a nationally representative sample of Americans to answer this question. We argue that the act of volunteering in response to September 11 depended on levels of identification with victims of the tragedy. One of the strongest factors was personal identification with victims, which was built through personal networks, such as knowing someone who was killed or in danger, and through personal prayer and altruistic orientations. Identification with victims was also built through heightened identification with the imagined community of the nation or of a particular region as well as through involvement in social events that reflect on the significance of the disaster in a communal setting. We argue that emotions matter for disaster relief, but that sorrow rather than anger is important. We also specify how organizational ties matter for civic participation, showing how active involvement in religious and nonreligious voluntary organizations created the opportunities and solidarity incentives for mobilization for 9/11 relief efforts. Finally, we show the various ways in which gender and race affect identification with victims, and how these produce gender and racial differences in 9/11 volunteering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]