Helping Yourself before Helping Others: How Sense of Control Promotes Charitable Behaviors

Xu, Qian; Kwan, Canice M.C.; Zhou, Xinyue

Abstract

This research elucidates when distress appeals can evoke the instinct to help without turning recipients away from uncomfortable situations. Five experiments demonstrated with behavioral evidence that evoking a sense of control by irrelevant causes prior to appeal exposure can increase the likelihood of registering as a volunteer (Studies 1 and 3) and the tendency to donate (Studies 2, 4, and 5) in a subsequent unrelated situation. The authors found that this effect was not evident in the absence of distress and for participants with enhanced distress tolerance. The results further showed that enhanced control increased distress tolerance, which mediated the observed effect on charitable acts but had no impact on self-efficacy in contributing as a helper. The findings have both theoretical and managerial implications for promoting charitable behaviors.

Citation

Xu, Q., Kwan, C. M., & Zhou, X. (2020). Helping Yourself before Helping Others: How Sense of Control Promotes Charitable Behaviors. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 30(3), 486-505. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1163

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 19, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 2, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Deposit Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Consumer Psychology
• Print ISSN: 1057-7408
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 486-505
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1163
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23443438
• Publisher URL: https://myscp.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcpy.1163