Are people who create or consume art more prosocial (e.g., more likely to volunteer and make charitable donations)? It seems they are.

Kou, X., Konrath, S., & Goldstein, T. R. (2019). The relationship among different types of arts engagement, empathy, and prosocial behavior. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/aca0000269

Abstract: The arts have long been promoted as helping people learn and care about situations and people other than themselves. However, large-scale research on this question is sparse. The current paper uses four national datasets to examine how arts engagement is associated with prosocial traits and behaviors. We ask the following: Are people who create or consume art more prosocial (e.g., more likely to volunteer and make charitable donations)? Does this depend upon art genre (visual arts, performing arts, or literature)? Does engaging in the arts at one time predict prosocial behavior 7 years later? And vice versa? We include sociodemographic and health controls to rule out confounds. To date, this is the most comprehensive investigation of how arts engagement is associated with prosocial behavior, and has implications for theory and practice.