When to give: Do cues to pathogen threat affect charitable behavior?

Abstract

Disease cues in an individual's environment can impact behavior, particularly when one has a heightened perceived vulnerability to disease. In this research, we looked at the likelihood for people to hold onto their resources more tightly when they believed there was an increased pathogen load in their immediate environment. This was studied particularly for the concept of philanthropic giving. Participants were given raffle tickets at the start of our experiment and were then shown an informational slideshow about the possibility of contracting disease from their surroundings. They also completed a questionnaire concerning their perceived vulnerability of disease. At the end, we provided participants the option to either give the money that the raffle tickets represented to charity, or put them in the raffle to win a cash prize for themselves. The results showed no significant effect of the slideshow condition upon likelihood to give to charity. We did find sex difference trends, as women were more likely to donate their tickets than men. Study limitations and proposed changes have been projected for future study.