Altruism, Warm Glow and Charitable Giving: Four Experiments TIBER Conference, August 27, 2015 René Bekkers Philanthropic Studies, VU University Amsterdam

Thanks to Co-authors: Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm (IUPUI) and Dave Verkaik (VU) Funders: Templeton Foundation through the Science of Philanthropy Initiative August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 20152

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? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 20153

Giving = Altruism + Warm Glow Giving can be motivated by altruism (utility from well-being of recipients) as well as warm glow (utility from giving). Under altruism, giving should be crowded out by giving by others. Previous tests have examined crowding- out at relatively low levels of giving by others. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 20154

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August 27, 2015TIBER Conference A test at G -i = 40 would be more informative

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8 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. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 2015 Ottoni-Wilhelm, M. & Bekkers, R. (2010). Helping Behavior, Dispositional Empathic Concern, and the Principle of Care. Social Psychology Quarterly. 73(1): Bekkers, R. & Ottoni-Wilhelm, M. (2014, revised and resubmitted). ‘Principle of Care and Giving to Help People in Need’. European Journal of Personality.

Our questions Can a manipulation of the state of moral care increase giving? Does it work through warm glow (duty?) and / or altruism? To what extent do third party contributions crowd out individual giving in the Netherlands? How much giving is motivated by warm glow and altruism? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 20159

10 Specifically 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? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 2015

11 Innovations We use data from large, longitudinal, and representative sample survey, the Giving in the Netherlands Panel Survey (2015). Pretest measures of almost anything, including socio-demographics, prosocial values and levels of giving. Observational data from the receiving charity. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 2015

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 giving in the experiment affect subsequent giving? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

9 Steps Validation of measures Behavioral analysisField experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Van Vliet, TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson, 1980s5. Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Budgets Budget€ funded by sponsor € for participant August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, 2014

Budgets Budget€ funded by sponsor G -i € for participant August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Crowding-out Income 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, 2014

Procedure All 6 budgets are evaluated in random order by participants. Only 1 will be implemented. Yields measures of altruism (α) and warm glow (β) within participants. In this experiment, generosity is influenced primarily by altruism and less so by warm glow. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, 2014

Step 1 Validation of measures Behavioral analysisField experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Van Vliet, TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson et al., Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, 2014

Empathy induction Neutral condition: “While you are listening to this broadcast, try to be as objective as possible about what has happened and how it has affected his or her life. To remain objective, do not let yourself get caught up in imagining what this other person has been through and how he or she feels as a result. Just try to remain objective and detached.” High-empathy condition: “While you are listening to this broadcast, try to imagine how the person being interviewed feels about what has happened and how it has affected his or her life. Try not to concern yourself with all the information presented. Just concentrate on trying to imagine how the person interviewed in the broadcast feels.” August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Batson et al., 1997 Batson, C.D., Early, S., Salvarani, G. (1997). Perspective Taking: Imagining How Another Feels Versus Imagining How You Would Feel. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23 (7):

Step 2 Validation of measures Behavioral analysisField experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Van Vliet, TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson et al., Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Inducing empathy and morality Participants read an article about Oxfam helping people in need because of the lack of water in Mali. Before reading the story participants completed empathy and principle of care scales. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Design: 3 (induction: neutral, empathy, principle of care) x 2 (crowding-out: no, yes) Participants: convenience sample of friends / family (n = 381) 3. Van Vliet, 2014

Empathy induction 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.” August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Van Vliet, 2014

Principle of care induction Care condition: “While you are reading the note, try to think about what’s morally the right thing to do. How should you act in this situation and towards the people in need?” August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Van Vliet, 2014

Crowding-out manipulation Adding: “To support this initiative, VU University is donating €10 for each participant reading this text.” August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Note: no balanced budgets; real money; no deception 3. Van Vliet, 2014

Crowding-in Oxfam donations August 27, 2015TIBER Conference No induction (n=96) 3. Van Vliet, 2014

Empathy lowers crowding-in August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Empathy induction (n=96) 3. Van Vliet, 2014

Care induces crowding-out August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Care induction (n=107) 3. Van Vliet, 2014

Step 3 Validation of measures Behavioral analysisField experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Bekkers et al., TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson, 1980s5. Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Correlations Trait empathyTrait care State empathy Trait care.54 State empathy State care for recipients E.g., “I am often struck by what other people experience” E.g., “People should be willing to help others who are less fortunate” August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Van Vliet, 2014

Empathic state measure Please tell us which emotions you are feeling at the moment. (1 – 7) –Compassion. –Sympathy. –Pity. –Warmth. –Care. –Devastated. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Following Batson (1997) Eigen value = 3.70, explaining 62% of the variance in a PCA α = Van Vliet, 2014

Empathy induction manipulation check August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Van Vliet, 2014

Care for recipients state 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.” August 27, 2015TIBER Conference New items, r = Van Vliet, 2014

Care manipulation check August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Van Vliet, 2014

Steps 2, 3, 4 Validation of measures Behavioral analysisField experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Bekkers et al., TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD 3. Van Vliet, 2014 Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Limitations  improvements The measure of state care was poor  develop one which can be used across situations The manipulations of empathy and the principle of care did not work  develop effective ones Single budget  test multiple budgets August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

A better measure of state care We decided to use an adjective checklist, describing the principle of care, avoiding emotions. –Moral –Rational –Principled –Deliberate –Responsible August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Following the model of the empathic state measure developed by Batson

Inducing empathy / morality Perhaps the induction was too strong, and reactance occurred. Can we use more subtle manipulations? We looked at the priming literature and talked to several psychologists warning us against using scrambled sentences, subliminal and physical cues, in order to avoid disappointment. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Perhaps we subtly manipulated empathy and morality in the previous experiment by asking participants about their self- image as an empathic / caring person before reading the text. We decided to test this systematically. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Priming empathy and morality Participants read an article about Oxfam helping a family in need by providing them with chickens. Participants either completed empathy and principle of care scales or not. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Design: 2 (self-image questions: no, yes) x 4 (priming: none, image of hands, religion, moral appeal) Participants: MTurk (n = 457) 4. Bekkers et al., 2014

Developing a state care measure Please indicate the degree to which you thought about these principles after reading the story. Responsibility, Helpfulness, Beauty(F) Benevolence, Loyalty(F), Humanity, Commonality, Authority(F), Assisting, Commitment, Purity(F), Justice, Self- centered(*), Liberty, Disregard(*), Remoteness(*) August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., 2014

Familiar correlations Trait empathy Trait care State care for recipients Trait care.69 State care for recipients State empathy adjectives State care adjectives Filler adjectives Isolation adjectives August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., 2014

No self-image priming effects August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., 2014

No priming effects on states… August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., 2014

…or giving behavior August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., 2014

Very little crowding out August 27, 2015TIBER Conference n = 457

Budgets ΔG -i ΔgiΔgi Crowding-out Effect 6: 4  : 28  : 10  : 4  : 4  (W46): 4  August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., 2014

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August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Observed crowd-out Full crowd-out

Does care affect crowding out? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference n = 55 (no self-image questions)

Does care affect crowding out? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference n = 57 (started with self- image questions)

Do empathy / care affect giving? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Bekkers et al., < r <.51r =.11r = -.36

Step 4: Summary of Results Very little crowd-out. No priming effects whatsoever on empathic or moral states or giving. Hypothetical giving increases strongly with dispositional empathy / care. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Step 4 Validation of measures Behavioral analysis Field experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Bekkers et al., TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD 3. Van Vliet, 2014 Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, 2014; 4. Bekkers et al., Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Learning from practice How would practitioners prime the principle of care? Can we develop an effective manipulation that can easily be used in practice? To what extent do real world fundraising materials affect the principle of care? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Testing Participants are exposed to Oxfam’s mission statement in different visual forms. Then participants completed state and dispositional measures. No giving. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Design: 3 (visual: text only, text with still image, video) x 2 (moral appeal: no, yes) Participants: Crowdflower (n = 287); MTurk (n = 304) 5. Bekkers, Ottoni-Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015

Oxfam America mission statement August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Excluding references to injustice, ‘right the wrong’ August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Principle of care affected August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Mturk sample only (n = 304)

Empathic state August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Mturk sample only (n = 304)

Personal distress state August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Mturk sample only (n = 304)

Trait care August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Mturk sample only (n = 304)

Trait empathy August 27, 2015TIBER Conference Mturk sample only (n = 304)

What we learned from practice Exposure to the Oxfam America mission statement marginally increased (+5-10%) the state of care, empathy, and distress. Also trait empathy and care are affected. These effects are most pronounced for the text only version. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Steps 5 and 6 Validation of measures Behavioral analysis Field experiment Warm glow / altruism in giving behavior 1. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Vesterlund & Xie, Bekkers et al., TBD Empathy induction 2. Batson, Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 8. TBD 3. Van Vliet, 2014 Principle of care induction 3. Van Vliet, 2014; 4. Bekkers et al., Bekkers, Ottoni- Wilhelm, Verkaik, 2015a; 2015b 9. TBD August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Questions for discussion Why did we find such a low level of crowd-out, in contrast to a previous lab experiment? Any ideas to more effectively manipulate the principle of care? August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

Procedure for field experiment GINPS15 participants will receive a letter explaining the experiment and a link to an online survey in which the experiment is implemented. Informed consent + ERB approval. Six decisions, one implemented. Match donations in experiment with Oxfam donation history from database. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference

René Bekkers Center for Philanthropic Studies Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

67 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. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference 2015

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. August 27, 2015TIBER Conference