Abstract
The authors' past study developed a scale measuring the spiritual vulgarity of the masses, based upon Ortega's “The Revolt of the Masses” (1930). The study indicated that the vulgarity of the masses might have a negative impact on urban landscape and consensus building around public works. In order to reduce one's vulgar disposition, we focused on “reading a good book”. And it is indicated that “reading a good book” has the potential for reducing the vulgarity.
In this report, we aimed to explore more practical measure for reducing one's vulgar disposition. We focused on volunteer activities as prosocial behavior, and hypothesized that the experience of volunteer activities might reduce the vulgarity of the mass. To test this hypothesis, we carried out a questionnaire survey. The obtained data supported the hypothesis, however, it also indicated that the experience of volunteer activities cause undesirable effects for one's vulgar disposition in the group whose vulgar disposition is high.
