The impact of affective congruence on charitable giving.

ABSTRACT: Although charitable aid requests often include multiple salient affective features, their interactive effects on donation behavior and the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying their combined influence remain unclear. In four studies, including six behavioral experiments and one Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) experiment, we examine how the affective congruence of request features influences giving decisions. Across studies, requests with affectively congruent features, regardless of valence, elicited greater donations. The impact of affective congruence was mediated by increased positive aroused affect experienced by donors. Convergently, at the neural level, congruent requests elicited greater activity in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc), a brain region associated with positi

SUBMITTER: Genevsky A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12459989 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature