Despite national statistics showing a steady drop in most types of crime, surveys consistently show that Australians feel less safe and believe society is worse than it used to be. Over the past couple of years, McCrindle has slipped an extra question into some of his surveys, asking respondents if a complete stranger has ever helped them in a significant way. Nine out of 10 respond "yes" and half of those say the kind act was recent. Now he has collected 70 stories from well-known Australians into a book, The Power of Good, which describes how strangers have helped them. One of McCrindle's favourites is from the former governor of Victoria, Professor David de Krester, who arrived with his parents from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1949. The woman who drove them to their rundown rooming house insisted the family instead stay with her, where they remained for several months. But McCrindle says many of the kind acts take just a few minutes. Comedian Anthony Ackroyd, for example, describes how his car got stuck in a ditch after a long day at the beach with two small children - and no mobile phones or money to use a public phone for a tow truck. A large four-wheel-drive swung by and the driver immediately hopped out, attached chains to Ackroyd's car and pulled it out.

"Someone stepped out of their busy day and it made a big difference [to Ackroyd and his family] and saved the day," he says. Sydney-based McCrindle trained as a psychologist but realised at university that he preferred social psychology - what groups and populations were thinking and doing - rather than clinical psychology for individuals. He started work as a focus-group researcher in the late 1990s, just as "Gen X" was emerging as a distinctive cohort. "It was really the start of the whole generational theory," McCrindle says, adding that after generations X, Y and Z, we now have generation alpha, born from 2010. McCrindle says the biggest changes he has observed over the past decade are this clear generational segmentation, the implications of an ageing population and the search for something deeper. "The late '90s had a focus on aspirationalism - more, better, bigger, faster, the McMansion and the huge flat-screen TV," he says.

"Now, there's a definite return to spirituality, to a community focus, work-life balance and the return of family at the centre." He and his wife reflect this family-oriented trend, parenting five children aged one to nine. "We started our family in 2001, when Australia's birth rate was at 1.7 children per woman, the lowest ever," McCrindle says. "[Then Treasurer Peter] Costello urged people to have 'one for Australia' - but we kept going." The Power of Good: True Stories of Great Kindness From Total Strangers by Mark McCrindle. (Hybrid Publishers, $24.95) THE BIG QUESTIONS Biggest break Getting my first research client (the caravanning industry) when it was just me in a rented office. I'll never forget that.

Biggest achievement Writing some books. And having five children. Although out of the two I've found getting books published is harder work than parenting five young kids! Biggest regret Having a spill on my motorbike, which resulted in me giving up two wheels. I had a deal with my wife that I could ride a motorbike as long as I didn't crash. It was a great few years. Best investment Marrying Ruth. Wouldn't have the standard of living or, far more importantly, the quality of life without her. Worst investment Telstra 2 shares. Buying blue-chip shares, from the government, in a telco, after the success of T1 - can't go wrong, right? Attitude to money John Wesley's advice of almost 300 years ago resonates with me: Earn as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Invest as much as you can. Give as much as you can.

Personal philosophy This too shall pass. A reminder that the accolades of the good days will fade, as will the struggles of the dark days. Grounding and comforting at the same time.