An interesting academic paper that was published in the 1990s. At that time, members were generally very generous in what they considered to be tithable income.

From other sources, I understand the Church has a department called R.I.D. where they conduct all types of statistical analyses. You better belive it that some or many church policies are in part crafted based on reliabile statisics. I think the Church crafts policies in part that give them the largest revenue stream possible.

http://www.suu.edu/faculty/tufte/Tithing_and_Asset_Prices/Dahl_and_Ransom.pdf

I found some interesting observations:

"Respondents who have served a mission, participate in
church social events, hold a volunteer calling,
and attend church regularly define the income
base to include almost twice as many income
items on average compared to less involved
member"

"In addition, Latter-Day Saints with
more children, who discuss which items to tithe
with their spouse, and who are in the lowest family
income group have significantly higher generosity-
index scores on average."

Acts motivated by self interest is a good topic. I wonder to this day why Mormons are willing to be so obedient and sacrificial. Ive heard it argued that it is because they want to be together in the celestial kingdom for time and eternity. But could it actually be motivated more by something tangible such as feeling good about yourself and appreciated, admired by others around you as they marvel at your sacrifice and aspire to have what you have or be like you? Maybe power and position for some. Others just feel justified by their works which brings them peace. They feel clean and whole, and they have all the answers others do not. They like the specialness it makes them feel and its worth every penny they must pay, and it buys them more important and lofty titles and callings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2011 06:06AM by suckafoo.

There are very few things that motivate humans to do things-some boil it down to just four things:
Fear, reward, duty, and love.
The church thrives on fear and duty(read:guilt). But when it comes to tithing, the church spins it around and says the windows of heaven will open up if you tithe.

So the researchers had it backwards.
Tithers believe that the more generous they are with tithing, the greater their reward(they will be more prosperous if they give a more generous tithe.) Hence the tendency to more liberally define income from a larger variety of sources.