Why We Give - It Makes us Feel Good

The Selfish Reasons Behind Why We Give

Time Magazine reported last October that we are motivated to give because it makes us feel good. Maia Szalavitz reported on findings in the Journal of Neuroscience  that our feelings of altruism are driven by feelings of hope that we will put smiles on expectant face in the appeals we read or see. Presenting a single story without all sorts of data is more likely to motivate giving. "Quantifying the size of a disaster or particular need paradoxically lowers giving." The identifiable victim elicited the greatest response. The researchers also found that giving was more generous if the photo of a certain activity center in the brain was activated, It's an area that deals with all areas of pleasure.

"Activity in their nucleus accumbens spikes— a brain region linked to every type of pleasurable experience— in this reward area spiked, potential donors felt good and gave more. And the photos of the children were more likely to activate this reward center."

Self Sacrifice Works Too

A 2011 report on NPR highlighted the results on giving in an interview with charity researcher Chris Olivola at Warwick University.

Why Do We Give? Not Why Or How You Think

As in the report above, a compelling story has more impact than information about the thousands who are in need of our charity. The story brings the need down to something we can make a difference about. Thousands is overwhelming. Learning something about a person in need draws us in and convinces us we can make a difference. 

"When people give to charity, they're give far more money to a single suffering person than to a population of suffering people."

It turns out suffering can motivate us...Our own suffering.   

In 2010  Olivola co-authored a book called "the Science of Giving. The book includes all kinds of experiments, some of the surprising experiments about why we give. Included is  Olivola's own work on a kind of charity that now seems completely ordinary: marathoning for a cause. Olivola's experiment included something really painful. He gave a group of people five dollars. He also gave them the opportunity to give a portion of the money to a charity. Half of the people were required to put their hands in very cold...painfully cold water for sixty seconds. "What we found was that people in that condition, the cold-water condition, gave more money. They gave $4, out of $5, to the group, even though we basically give them incentive not to give."  Those who were not asked to make a sacrifice gave about $3. 

Sound familiar? It sounds a lot like the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS.