As University students scurry across the south end of the Lawn to get to class, they most likely pass their fellow students "tabling" on the sidewalk. The activity might be for the a capella concert Friday night or could be publicity for a social event. Something particularly noticeable, though, is the range of fundraisers benefiting charity or other causes, whether they be for UNICEF or disaster relief efforts in Haiti.
People in the United States have been raising money for disaster relief efforts for decades, the more recent ones including the Haitian earthquake and Pakistani floods. What is it, though, that makes people willing to open up their wallets to donate to strangers on the other side of the world?
Some studies show that individuals can experience positive feelings after participating in such activities, said Liz Dunn, an assistant professor of social psychology at the University of British Columbia. In a 2007 study, for example, University of Oregon Economics Prof. William Harbaugh and Psychology Prof. Ulrich Mayr, used brain imaging technology on volunteers who donated to a food bank. Results showed that the pleasure centers of the brain were activated by the process of giving. Researchers argue that people are willing to take some sort of action, even if it does not directly benefit them, as they are likely to feel a "warm glow" as a reward for their generosity.
Other recent research suggests that helping others may be one way of coping with one's own uncertainties about the future.
"We have found that students waiting to hear whether they have been accepted for a job or graduate school, for example, donate more time and money to others," said University Asst. Prof. Benjamin Converse, who is involved in the field of social psychology. "It may be that it helps them relate to others in need, that it restores a sense of personal control or perhaps because they have some notion that 'what goes around comes around' and that helping could garner them some good karma."
Although it is easy to imagine a desperate friend putting a dollar bill and some change in a donation box in hopes of somehow being repaid with an A on his next organic chemistry exam, karma does not have to be the only psychological incentive behind giving to those in need. The popular sentiment that we should be grateful for what we have - a roof to live under, water, food and clothing - highlights another motivation that could come into play: empathy. During the donation process, empathy levels may be high because outsiders realize how lucky they are to have immediate needs such as shelter, food and water, along with a stable lifestyle.
In the end, it is likely that charitable actions are motivated by more than one factor.
"The full answer seems to include not just how we relate to others, through empathy for example, and how helping affects ourselves, through positive emotions and assessments of whether we're being our 'ideal selves', but also the situation we find ourselves in when presented an opportunity to help," Converse said.
Lane Beckes, a research associate at the Virginia Affective Neuroscience Lab ascribed to a neural approach to prosocial behavior and empathy. Beckes recalled an "embodied simulation" in which people can understand and empathize with another person. "People use the same neural regions they use to represent their own internal physiological and emotional states, regions like the insula [linked to emotion and homeostasis regulation], to represent the other person's psychological state," he said.
As a result, motivation to donate stemming from empathy may be greater when hearing about the troubles from one or two victims, rather than hearing about the numbers or statistics of the people affected in a larger population. As such, larger populations, like those affected by natural disasters, have a harder time garnering empathy.
Third-year College student Fatima Umer, who is involved with Hoos for Pakistan Flood Relief and the Pakistani Student League, believes that people help out because they may feel a shared social obligation.
"People want to make a difference," she said. "Whether it's physically volunteering at Madison House or giving monetary donations, U.Va. students rightly feel a strong sense of social responsibility."
Most of the students in the Pakistani Student League and Hoos for Pakistan Flood Relief are personally affected by the floods. Thanks in part to their efforts, there have been many recent flood-related efforts. For example, Saamia Noorali, the founder of Hoos for Pakistan Flood Relief, once distributed boxes to all first-year dormitories, accepting donations of canned goods and nonperishable items. To help with this cause, FedEx volunteered to send 100 boxes for free.
In light of these displays of generosity, Umer revealed yet another reason why people - including those who have no direct connection to the individuals affected - may donate so much in such cases. In cases such as these, she said, "it is impossible for anyone to ignore the fact that Pakistan needs global aid badly"
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