Are Women More Generous Than Men?

Research summarized in this article from In Character seems to say so. They're also more empathetic.

But in recent years, the disparity between male and female attitudes about the importance of keeping or giving money has narrowed. Yet, there are consistent differences in male and female attitudes about altruism.

[Women] are more likely than men to list altruism as one of their life goals. For forty years, the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California (Los Angeles) has conducted an annual survey of the attitudes and preferences of college freshman. Since the mid-1960s when the survey began, the sexes have become more alike in their answers. For example, in 1966, only 30 percent of freshman females said that “being very well off financially” was essential or very important to them. For men, the 1966 figure was 53 percent – a 23-point difference. By 2004, the gap had narrowed to 3 points (72 percent of females counted financial success as essential compared to 75 percent of men). However, despite this convergence, there is one major, persistent disparity between male and female respondents that has not been affected by the dramatic social changes of the past four decades. Approximately two-thirds of women say “helping others who are in difficulty” is an essential or very important life objective, compared to only half of the men. In 2004, for example, 70 percent of female freshman identified helping others as essential; for men it was 53 percent (a 17-point gap). In 1966, the gap was nearly the same – 19 points.