The Effect of Recipients' Religiosity on Charitable Giving
Chukwuma Obadike
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: College of Liberal Arts
Major: Psychology
Faculty Research Mentor: Verneda Hamm-Baugh
Abstract:
Religion is a broad category of social-cultural systems that, in general, connect humans to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual components. These systems could include prescribed behaviors and practices, values, beliefs, worldviews, scriptures, sacred spaces, prophesies, ethics, or organizations. For many around the world, religion can be a source of explanation to certain unanswered questions, a source of exhortation of good morals, consolation and comfort, inspiration to do good deeds. Charity (charitable giving) is one of the main good deeds that many world religions advocate. The three leading world religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, place significant emphasis on charitable giving and exhort their adherents to engage in acts of charity. This exhortation has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on how charitable donations are made around the world.The present study was designed to examine the effect of recipients’ religiosity on donors’ charitable giving behaviors. Participants completed a survey regarding their likelihood to make a monetary donation to a homeless person after viewing a picture and description about him. Participants were divided into two groups; one group viewed the picture of the homeless person and read the description of the homeless person who was described as a Christian. The other group viewed the same picture and read the same description however, the homeless person was described as an atheist. It was hypothesized that the homeless person described as a Christian would receive larger monetary donations than when the homeless person was described as an atheist.