Socially connected people more likely to show bias in their giving
Howard Lake | 20 August 2014 | News
People who consider themselves to be connected socially with other people are more likely to show bias in their charitable donations, giving larger sums to beneficiaries who are similar to them.
But people who see themselves as independent, autonomous individuals show no favouritism or discrimination in their charitable behavior.
The findings are presented in paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research that explores prosocial acts in the context of ‘self-construal’ – whether people see themselves as connected with or separate from other people.
The paper finds that ‘interdependent’ people are not more likely to give to charity than ‘independent’ self-construers. But they are more likely to give to people who are similar to themselves – a finding the paper’s authors describe as “ironic” – whereas independents give equally to in-group and out-group.
The paper reported on four studies conducted by the authors – Rod Duclos, of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Alixandra Barasch of the University of Pennsylvania.
Two of the results were:
Caucasian American interdependents were more likely to give to a charity supporting tornado victims if white people appeared in the appeal compared, to appeal materials that featured black people; whereas Caucasian American independents gave equally to appeals showing black and white victims.
Chinese interdependents were more likely to give to victims of an earthquake in Sichuan rather than Haiti; whereas there was no bias in the giving patterns of Chinese independents.
Duclos and Barasch explain their findings in terms of the happiness that giving to charity brings people. Interdependents gain greater happiness from helping people like themselves. However, because independents already see themselves as separate from others, in-groups and out-groups have lower relevance for them, so giving to an out-group brings as much happiness as helping the in-group.
The authors note the “irony” of interdependents’ generosity being “driven by somewhat selfish or self-serving motives”.
For more detailed analysis, see Rogare’s Critical Fundraising blog.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.