Don't forget the group! The importance of social norms and empathy for shaping donation behaviour.

Feelings of empathy and the influence of social descriptive norms are related to intentions to donate. People are more likely to help and donate to others when they empathise with them, and when they perceive descriptive norms to encourage such behaviour. However, previous work has not considered the potential interplay between empathy and descriptive norms. Across two surveys in two different national settings (Ns = 1300 and 144), we assessed the interplay between empathy and social descriptive norms on frequency of donation (Study 1) and on willingness to donate (Study 2). Consistent with our main hypotheses, in Studies 1 and 2, norms and empathy were positive predictors of frequency of donation and willingness to donate. Importantly, a consistent interaction between norms and empathy was found in both studies. Empathy was a stronger predictor of donation behaviour and disposition when norms were low. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

Civic engagement and giving behaviors: The role of empathy and beliefs about poverty.

The current study explores different routes to civic involvement by identifying how a context-specific dimension of empathy and beliefs of autonomy and dependency might jointly predict different types of giving behaviors (i.e., monetary donations), which in turn should predict civic engagement. The sample consisted of 1,294 participants (656 females) between the ages of 18 to 64 (M(age) = 38.44, SD = 14.71), randomly selected from seven different cities in Chile. Even after controlling for gender, age, and the socioeconomic status of participants, results mainly support the role of giving behaviors as drivers of actual engagement in civic life. Monetary donations, in turn, are predicted by higher levels of empathy toward poverty and autonomy-oriented beliefs. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of agentic perspectives on civic participation.