Marketing Department, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Behavioral Science Department, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2017 Jun;112(6):860-876. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000089. Epub 2017 Mar 2.
Fact: Holding force constant, a snowball thrown from 10 feet away will hurt more than one thrown from 50 feet away; it will have more impact. We show that people expect charitable donations-much like snowballs-to have more impact on nearby (vs. faraway) targets. Therefore, because making an impact is a powerful motivator of prosocial behavior, people are more willing to take action to help nearby (vs. faraway) causes-independent of social distance. Six studies, including lab and field experiments, and secondary data from fundraising campaigns support this prediction. Specifically, Study 1 shows that people expect charitable donations to have a greater impact on nearby (vs. faraway) recipients, and that these judgments stem from metaphorical thinking. In the context of alumni giving to their alma mater, the next two studies show that donations increase as real (Study 2) or perceived (Study 3) distances decrease. Study 4 extends these findings using a more conservative manipulation of distance perception (Study 4). Finally, Study 5 demonstrates the mediating role of expected impact on the effect of perceived distance on charitable action, whereas Study 6 shows that a motivational focus on making an impact moderates this effect. (PsycINFO Database Record
在保持力不变的情况下，从 10 英尺远的地方扔出的雪球比从 50 英尺远的地方扔出的雪球更疼；它会有更大的冲击力。我们表明，人们期望慈善捐款——很像雪球——对附近（而不是遥远的）目标有更大的影响。因此，因为产生影响是促进亲社会行为的有力动机，人们更愿意采取行动帮助附近（而不是遥远的）的事业——而不受社会距离的影响。六项研究，包括实验室和现场实验，以及筹款活动的二次数据，支持了这一预测。具体来说，研究 1 表明，人们期望慈善捐款对附近（而不是遥远的）受赠者有更大的影响，而这些判断源于隐喻思维。在校友向母校捐款的背景下，接下来的两项研究表明，随着实际（研究 2）或感知（研究 3）距离的缩短，捐款会增加。研究 4 使用更保守的距离感知操纵进一步扩展了这些发现（研究 4）。最后，研究 5 证明了预期影响在感知距离对慈善行为的影响中的中介作用，而研究 6 表明，关注产生影响的动机调节了这种影响。
