Whom to help? Immediacy bias in judgments and decisions about humanitarian aid

People exhibit an immediacy bias when making judgments and decisions about humanitarian aid, perceiving as more deserving and donating disproportionately to humanitarian crises that happen to arouse immediate emotion. The immediacy bias produced different serial position effects, contingent on decision timing (Experiment 1). When making allocation decisions directly after viewing to four emotionally evocative films about four different humanitarian crises, participants donated disproportionately more to the final, immediate crisis, in contrast, when making donation decisions sequentially, after viewing each of the four crises, participants donated disproportionately to the immediate crisis. The immediacy bias was associated with “scope neglect,” causing people to take action against relatively less deadly crises (Experiments 2 and 3). The immediacy bias emerged even when participants were warned about emotional manipulation (Experiment 3). The immediacy bias diminished over time, as immediate emotions presumably subsided (Experiment 2). Implications for charitable giving, serial position effects, and the influence of emotion on choice are discussed.     

Career-choice readiness in adolescence: Developmental trajectories and individual differences

Developing career-choice readiness is an important task in adolescence, but current theory and research has provided a rather static view of the phenomenon. The present study investigated the development of career-choice readiness among a group of 325 Swiss students assessed four times every 5 months from seventh through eighth grade. A variable-centered approach applying latent curve modeling showed not only a linear increase of readiness over time but also significant inter-individual differences in the level and development of readiness. Higher levels were predicted by more self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy and fewer perceived barriers while increase in readiness was predicted by increase in occupational information. A person-centered approach applying latent class-growth analysis identified four distinct developmental trajectories: high-increasing (42%), high-decreasing (5%), moderate-increasing (42%), and constantly low (11%). Students with different trajectories showed significant differences in core self-evaluations, occupational knowledge, and barriers. The results suggest that environmental demands promote a developmental trend in readiness development that overrules individual differences for the majority of students. Individual differences affect the level of readiness to a greater extent than the process of its development. Career information seems pivotal for readiness increase.     

When promoting a charity can hurt charitable giving: A metacognitive analysis

Charities need to come to mind to enter a potential donor's consideration set. However, feeling familiar with a charity and its cause can facilitate or impair giving. In most cases, perceived good memory for details of the cause fosters the impression of personal importance, which increases giving (Studies 1 and 3). But when the charity aims to increase awareness of a cause, good memory for the cause suggests that awareness is already high, which impairs giving (Studies 2 and 3). Hence, promotions for awareness-raising charities can actually have negative consequences, confirming the predictions of a metacognitive analysis.     

An examination of regifting

This study develops an operational definition of the phenomenon of regifting. Gifting refers to the act of giving something to someone else without an expectation of compensation. Regifting is similar to gifting in that there is no expectation of compensation, but the gift itself differs in that it is one previously given to the giver. This study uses previous literature on established gift‐giving themes to explore regifting's meaning, importance, and implications to consumer research. In‐depth interviews and focus groups aid in the discovery of themes within regifting and regifting motivations, as well as those within relationships between the regifter and recipient. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Corporate sponsorships may hurt nonprofits: Understanding their effects on charitable giving

While prior research suggests that corporate sponsorship can positively affect consumers' perceptions of sponsors, little research to date has investigated the impact of such sponsorships on an individual's willingness to support nonprofits. This paper investigates the psychological processes that underlie whether and how corporate sponsorship impacts an individual's willingness to support nonprofit organizations and suggests that unintended negative outcomes may emerge. Specifically, results from five studies suggest that exposure to sponsorship information can reduce prospective donors' willingness to support a nonprofit because people believe that their individual contributions will matter less. In addition, this research identifies a potential mechanism (i.e., donor-company identification) that can mitigate these negative effects.     

Effects of Group Status and Victim Sex on Male Bystanders’ Responses to a Potential Party Rape

This study examined male bystanders’ responses to risk for party rape. Undergraduate men (N = 77) imagined attending a party (either alone or with 3 friends) where a sober man led an intoxicated potential victim (either a man or woman) into a bedroom. After random assignment to 1 of these 4 conditions, participants completed measures of behavioral inaction and barriers to action. Bystanders in groups were more inactive than lone bystanders. Compared to bystanders who saw a woman at risk, bystanders who saw a man at risk reported greater inaction and greater barriers to action, including risk uncertainty, lack of responsibility to help, and skills deficits. Results highlight social factors that inhibit male bystanders’ prosocial responses to high-risk situations.     

Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Immigrant African Women Survivors of Partner Abuse: Listening to Women's Own Voices

Most studies in the United States documenting immigrant women's experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) have not included the perspectives of abused immigrant African women. This study utilized a phenomenological approach to explore help-seeking barriers and factors impacting decisions to leave an abusive relationship among 15 immigrant African women. Results from the qualitative analysis indicated that the culture of gender inequality and acceptance of gender violence were primary barriers. Self-blame, loyalty, concern for children, and lack of knowledge regarding abuse, services, and legal rights were additional barriers, along with structural factors such as finances, underemployment, and housing. Muslim African women also feared the additional stigma of being in polygamous relationships. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Teacher Reported Poverty Effects on Education Participation in a South African District

This study reports on teachers' perceptions of the effects of poverty on education participation in a district in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Participants were 21 teachers (males = 10; females = 11) from seven schools (primary =5, high schools =1, special school =1). Focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect the data. Teachers were of the view that poverty prevented learners and parents (or guardians) from full participation of the education provided by the schools. Poverty had the effects to disempowered both learners and parents as partners in education. It also constrained the quality of teaching.     

A comparison of methods for assessing child compliance during behavioral parent training

The purpose of the present study was to compare four methods of computing child compliance to parental instructions. Four noncompliant boys, ages 2.5 to 7 years, participated with their mothers in behavioral parent training. In order to evaluate the training, observers recorded the boys' compliance responses in continuous 10-sec intervals. The boys' rates of compliant responding were then computed by considering behavior (A) only in the first interval following the instruction, (B) in the first three intervals following the instruction, (C) in all intervals while the instruction was ongoing, and (D) only in the final interval of the instructional trial. The findings indicated that the first three methods were correlated strongly with each other, although there were occasional differences in the levels of compliance indicated by these three methods. The implications of the findings and the merits of each of the four methods are discussed.