Sharing becomes chic in U.S. during recession

The renewed desire to share shows up in a variety of statistics: A car-sharing service has had a 70-percent membership increase since the recession set in. Governments are putting bikes on the street for public use. How-to-swap Web sites are proliferating.

“I think what happens in a recession or any sort of economic contraction is that you have not only a loss of financial resources, but also you have a loss of emotional resources,” said Shawn Achor, a Harvard University researcher and a consultant on positive psychology.

“You don't have as much of the money or security or confidence or pride that goes with financial success,” he said. “Our brains try to seek out those resources that are lost. The financial resources are beyond our control, but the emotional resources are not. And we seek out each other. We rely on each other.”

The economy reflects the way Americans have cut back, especially on discretionary items: Department store sales dropped 1.3 percent in June. Auto sales dropped 27.7 percent last month. People are not paying others to do what they can do themselves — Home Depot reports increased attendance at in-store do-it-yourself clinics. And although paint sales are down in general, according to Sherwin-Williams, individual consumers are still buying.

When Tom Burdett needed to cut some tile at his home outside Annapolis, Md., he refused to buy expensive tools, instead asking neighbors and friends for help. Sure enough, someone had just what he needed. And when that friend needed help installing a satellite dish, Burdett volunteered.

“I'm not going to go out and buy a US$500 tile saw just to do one project,” said Burdett, a television producer. “Just ask for help, and help people out. I think the economy has kind of woken people back up to the old way of doing things instead of the crazy '90s of 'Oh just go out and buy it.' “

Sharing is not new to the American culture, but many Americans abandoned it when the nation shifted from an agricultural society to an industrial one, said Rosemary Hornak, a psychology professor at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. They moved farther from their families and worked too much to connect with new neighbors.

Now that people are experiencing financial distress, they don't want to be alone.

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