Working Paper: NBER ID: w20696
Authors: Lara B. Aknin; Guy Mayraz; John F. Helliwell
Abstract: Charities often circulate widespread donation appeals to garner support for campaigns, but what impact do these campaigns have on the well-being of individuals who choose to donate, those who choose not to donate, and the entire group exposed to the campaign? Here we investigate these questions by exploring the changes in affect reported by individuals who donate in response to a charitable request and those who do not. We also look at the change in affect reported by the entire sample to measure the net impact of the donation request. Results reveal that large donors experience hedonic boosts from their charitable actions, and the substantial fraction of large donors translates to a net positive influence on the well-being of the entire sample. Thus, under certain conditions, donation opportunities can enable people to help others while also increasing the overall well-being of the population of potential donors.
Keywords: donation; wellbeing; emotional consequences; prosocial behavior
JEL Codes: C91; D60; D64; H3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Donation opportunities (D64) | Net positive emotional impacts on overall sample (D91) |
| High donors (D64) | Increased happiness (I31) |
| High donors (D64) | Increased pride (Y60) |
| Low donors (D64) | Non-significant drop in happiness (D19) |
| Low donors (D64) | Non-significant drop in pride (D69) |
| Nondonors (F35) | Significant decrease in positive affect (D91) |
| Nondonors (F35) | No significant change in negative affect (D91) |