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The Feel-Good School of Philanthropy
The New York Times: THIS year, “Giving Tuesday,” Black Friday’s philanthropic cousin, kicked off our nation’s most generous calendar month. Americans punch up their charitable donations in December, to over an estimated $1 billion a day. Why do we give? Many motives drive kind actions. We might donate to impress our friends or curry favor. To at least some extent, we also give to help make the world a better place. A movement known as effective altruism (E.A.) seeks to make us better do-gooders. Often called “generosity for nerds,” effective altruism uses data science to calculate how people can ensure that each dollar they give has the greatest impact on the lives of those in need.
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A Simple, Science-Backed Trick to Control Your Holiday Spending
Inc.: The comedown after the holidays can be rough. Some suffer in the grim January weather, others are shocked by the number on the scale after all the festivities, but for many folks the worst part of the post-season crash is the credit card bills. It's easy to get caught up in all the gift giving and good cheer and let your budget go totally out of control. Then the new year rolls around and shock and regret set in. Is there any way to avoid this common cycle of overindulgence and repentance? You might think that simple willpower is the answer. After all, we're all grown-ups here and know that what we buy has to be paid for. But according to psychologists things aren't that simple.
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Proof there’s no shame in re-gifting this holiday
Fortune: You may have reservations: re-gifting is a social taboo, and it’s potentially offensive to the giver. But in a study published in Psychological Science, researchers found that when it comes to re-gifting, those who receive the gift (and re-gift it) known as “receivers” overestimate the reactions of those who give the gifts known as “givers.” The researchers conclude: “Although receivers felt that givers were entitled to have a say in what happened to their gifts, givers felt that receivers were entitled to do whatever they liked with a gift. In short, the taboo against regifting was felt more strongly by receivers than by givers.” Read the whole story: Fortune
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Altruism and the Preschooler
The Wall Street Journal: Preschool-age children from wealthier families generally behave less charitably than those from lower economic brackets, according to a recent study. What’s more, the study says, that lack of altruism could affect the physical and mental health of the wealthier children. The study, published recently in the journal Psychological Science, examined the roots and benefits of altruism in preschool-age children. The study’s authors argue that their findings highlight the importance of a child’s early environment in developing charitable tendencies. ...
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Why You Bought That Ugly Sweater
The Atlantic: There is a science to every sale. Among other findings of interest to retailers, researchers have shown that customers are drawn to items sitting on the middle of a shelf, as opposed to the ends [1], and that we perceive prices to be lower when they have fewer syllables and end with a 9 [2, 3]. Stores have figured out how to manipulate us by overpricing merchandise with the intention of later marking it down, knowing that (thanks to a cognitive bias psychologists refer to as “anchoring”) we will see the lowered price as a deal [4].
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If you give a man a gun: the evolutionary psychology of mass shootings
The Conversation: Men commit over 85% of all homicides, 91% of all same-sex homicides and 97% of all same-sex homicides in which the victim and killer aren’t related to each other. These startling statistics are driven home with each new mass shooting (though the most recent tragedy in San Bernardino, California is a bit unusual in that a married couple were the shooters). In any event, politicians and the media are trotting out the usual suspects to explain the tragedy, whether it’s the lack of attention paid to mental illness or the easy availability of guns. But these explanations dance around the big questions: why is there always a man behind these shootings?
