Altruism, Warm Glow and Generosity: A National Experiment René Bekkers Philanthropic Studies, VU University Amsterdam Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm Economics/Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, IUPUI

Giving with moral care The moral principle of care as a trait is strongly predictive of generosity, particularly towards people in need. Can a manipulation of the state of moral care increase giving? Does it work through warm glow (duty?) and / or altruism? How much giving is motivated by warm glow and altruism? November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 2

3 Previous findings The principle of care predicts a wide variety of helping behaviors in a national sample of US citizens (GSS ). 75% to 100% of the relationship between empathic concern and helping behaviors is mediated by the principle of care. These findings are strongest for helping people in need known in the abstract. Source: Ottoni-Wilhelm, M. & Bekkers, R. (2010). Helping Behavior, Dispositional Empathic Concern, and the Principle of Care. Social Psychology Quarterly. 73(1): November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago

The Big Questions - nested 1. Why do people give? 2. When do altruism and warm glow motivate giving? 3. How much giving do altruism and warm glow motivate? November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 4

Foundations for answers 1.Why do people give? Using insights and methods from psychology in the warm glow – altruism debate. 2.When do altruism and warm glow work? Building on the impure altruism model and recent experiments. 3.How much giving do they motivate? November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 5

But we still don’t know… Is the relationship between the principle of care and giving causal? Can we manipulate the principle of care? How? Does it affect giving in a real world setting? November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 6

7 Our Questions How do experimentally induced altruism and warm glow affect giving across different levels of giving by others? How does priming empathy and the principle of care affect altruism and warm glow motivations for giving? In a real world setting, does warm glow lead to higher levels of giving than altruism? November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago

8 Innovations We will use data from large, longitudinal, and representative sample survey from the Netherlands. Pretest measures of almost anything, including socio-demographics, prosocial values and levels of giving. Observational data from the receiving charity. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago

Randomizing care through direct induction, a writing task, or semantic priming: must be causal. Observe gifts in a real fundraising campaign: real & no deception. Posttest manipulation checks through a survey; long term effects on giving, also to other causes: does it affect the pie? November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 9

Budgets Budget€ funded by sponsor € for participant November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 10

Study 4: Observed giving to the Red Cross in experiment (VOX) 11 $ N=85 Base: $ 21 November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago Source: Ottoni-Wilhelm, M., Vesterlund, L. and Xie, H. (2014). “Why Do People Give? Testing Pure and Impure Altruism." NBER Working Paper

Study 5: Observed giving of reward to (inter) national health charities in experiment (GINPS) 12 € N=1,280 Base: €0.64 November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago

Pilot study: MA thesis Participants read an article about people in need because of the lack of water in Mali. Before reading the story participants completed empathy and principle of care scales and were randomized. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 13 Design: 3 (instruction: neutral, empathy, principle of care) x 2 (crowding-out: no, yes)

Empathy manipulation Neutral condition: “While you are reading the note, try to take an objective perspective toward what is described. Try not to get caught up in how the other person feels; just remain objective and detached.” High-empathy condition: “While you are reading the note, try to imagine how the other person feels about what is described. Try to imagine how it has affected his or her life and how he or she feels as a result.” November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 14

Principle of care manipulation Care condition: “While you are reading the note, try to think about what’s morally the right thing to do. How you should handle in this situation and towards the people in need?” November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 15

Crowding-out manipulation Adding: “To support this initiative, VU University is donating €10 for each participant reading this text.” November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 16 Note: no balanced budgets

Empathy check Please tell us how you are feeling at the moment. (1 – 7) –Compassionate. –Sympathetic. –Warm. –Caring. –Hurt. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 17 Standard procedure developed by C. Daniel Batson

No induction effect on empathy November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 18

Principle of care check Items (1-5): –“While reading the text I thought I should do something for people who have trouble getting clean water.” –“I think we should all do something to provide clean drinking water facilities for people who need them.” November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 19 New items.

No induction effect on care November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 20

Perhaps this is better Use adjective checklist, describing the principle of care but do not express emotions. –Moral –Rational –Principled –Deliberate –Responsible November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 21

Crowding-in Oxfam donations November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 22 No induction (n=96)

No crowding-in or -out November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 23 Empathy induction (n=96)

Crowding-out November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 24 Care induction (n=107)

Next Learn about semantic priming and writing tasks to manipulate values and emotions. Conduct a pilot experiment with GINPS14 respondents, in a 2 (empathy: low-high) x 2 (care: low-high) design. Field the actual experiment, working with Oxfam the Netherlands. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 25

Design GINPS14 participants receive a letter explaining the experiment and a link to an online survey in which the experiment is implemented. Informed consent / ~IRB approval. Six decisions, one implemented. Match donations in experiment with Oxfam donation history from database. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 26

27 The Measure – Sample Items 1. People should be willing to help others who are less fortunate. 2. Everybody in this world has a responsibility to help others when they need assistance. 3 (*). These days people need to look after themselves and not overly worry about others. 4. When people are less fortunate, it is important to help them even if they are very different from us. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago

Full principle of care scale a.People should be willing to help others who are less fortunate. b.Everybody in this world has a responsibility to help others when they need assistance. c.These days people need to look after themselves and not overly worry about others. d.When people are less fortunate, it is important to help them even if they are very different from us. e.It is important to help one another so that the community in general is a better place. f.Personally assisting people in trouble is very important to me. g.When thinking about helping people in trouble, it is important to consider whether the people are like us or not. h.We should not care too much about the needs of people in other parts of the world. November 8, 2014SPI Conference University of Chicago 28