Women are more selfish than men and more likely to bad-mouth their friends says study



They ignore charity workers at the front door and take bigger piece when they split chocolate, claims survey



Women are more selfish than men and more likely to bitch about their friends behind their backs, a study today revealed.

The survey claims they ignore charity workers at the front door more than men and shun office workmates by making their own tea.

Women are also less likely to return a favour and don't bother handing money back after seeing someone drop it.

Heard the latest: Women are more likely than men to criticise their friends behind their back

Blokes fared slightly better - helping out elderly with heavy shopping bags and giving change to the homeless.

The conclusions emerged from a study which questioned 2,000 people of both sexes on their attitudes and behaviour towards selfless acts.

The study was commissioned by Original Volunteers, the UK's largest independent overseas volunteering organisation, to mark Volunteers Week.

Programme Director Caroline Revell said: 'It's unfortunate to see a large portion of the nation considers themselves selfish.

'We're all guilty of the occasional selfish act but this just goes to show how precious we've become over our own time.

'It appears that giving up your time is the ultimate sacrifice, more so than dodging charity collectors in the street, bad-mouthing someone for a personal gain or forgetting a friend or relative's birthday.

SELFISH ACTS MEN AND WOMEN ADMIT DOING WOMEN MEN

Bad-mouthed someone behind their back 55.6% 42.2%

Kept money when someone has dropped it 14.7 7.9

Failed to hold a door open for someone 20.2 19.3

Not given cash to someone who needs it 19.7 25.5

Ignored a homeless person asking for change 61.1 51.3

Not provided a lighter when you had one 6.9 8.0

Made tea in the office just for yourself 27.5 25.2

Not helped colleagues as much as you should 18.6 9.6

Failed to let someone in/give way when driving 42.3 39.8

Not contacted members of family 42.6 35.5

Not given a friend/colleague a lift 13.5 13.6

Not bought a round or tried to dodge it 15.2 19.5

Been unsympathetic 43.2 38.6

Lied to make myself look better at work 34.0 33.2

Gone after a girl/boy when I knew pal liked them 11.0 16.1

Not helped an old lady with shopping bags 32.1 27.3

Pushed into a queue 17.3 21.5

Ignored a charity worker at the front door 30.7 29.7

Avoided donating to charity by crossing road 40.6 35.7

Splashed someone in my car 9.7 16.3

Picked DVD that I wanted, not my partner 27.1 26.2

Made what you wanted for dinner 55.3 45.9

Not cleared up after myself 39.9 41.9

Borrowed something and not returned it 24.1 23.7

Split chocolate in two, taking larger piece 37.9 30.1

Not returned a favour 15.8 18.4

Blamed someone else for something I did 24.5 26.6

Forgot a relative's or friend's birthday 50.1 41.3

Failed to give up seat for elderly or pregnant 9.5 11.6

Not volunteered to help out at a sporting event 86.9 82.2

Not helped out at fundraisers 65.5 77.1

Haven't/considered voluntary work abroad 85.5 86.4



The survey by Original Volunteers interviewed 2,000 participants







'The highest areas of selfishness include giving up time to volunteer, with over 80 per cent of both women and men never considering or taking part in volunteering abroad.

'And while volunteering and getting involved hasn't entered many people's minds, helping others can often mean you end up helping yourself too.

'People have the chance to try out teaching, working with street kids, saving endangered species and exploring new cultures .'



More than half of females (55 per cent) admitted they choose the evening meal without taking their partner into consideration.

Help: Eight out of ten men and women never get involved in voluntary work

Three in ten have picked a DVD they wanted to watch without even consulting their other half and more than a third admit to regularly breaking a piece of chocolate in two and taking the larger piece



A third have lied in order to improve their chances at work and four in ten haven't got hold of members of their family for 'too long'.

Men were also far from being squeaky clean - a quarter said they haven't given someone cash when they were in desperate need of it and one in five purposefully try to dodge buying rounds in the pub.

The same number have pushed into a queue and one in six have splashed someone in their car.

And while they're happy to volunteer at a sporting event, men are less likely to help at fundraisers or go abroad for projects.

They've also not given a colleague a lift when they are obviously going their way and more than a quarter have passed the buck to a colleague after making a mistake at work.

Not clearing up after themselves and going after a girl they know a mate is interested in are also common occurrences for men.

The study also found seven in ten of participants admit to being selfish and nine in ten said they could do more to put other's interests or welfare before their own.

Incredibly, half of people said they committed two or more selfish acts every day.

Eight out of ten said they had never considered volunteering to help a charity or organisation with hectic lifestyles, long working hours or apathy the most common reasons.