Li Shuaiqi, Liu Xiaoli, Li Jianbiao
School of Finance, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Jinan, China.
Institute for Study of Brain-like Economics/School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 29;12:585128. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.585128. eCollection 2021.
We conducted an intertemporal online experiment to examine the contagion of others' positive and negative donation behaviors. We collected two sets of data during and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The participants donated to the charitable fund, "Against COVID-19, The China Charity Federation Is on the Move." We further investigated the mediating effect of social anxiety on the link between the contagion of donation behaviors and the changes in the COVID-19 situation. A total of 1022 participants (Mage = 22.68, 63.01% females) participated in the intertemporal online experiment and were considered in the statistical analyses. Our findings were as follows. First, the donation behaviors of others significantly changed these participants' initial donation decisions, with increased or decreased donation amounts being associated with a positive or negative donation behavior, respectively. Others' positive donation behavior was more likely to nudge these participants into changing their initial decisions (31.82%, Mean = 15.177, SD = 1.586) than negative donation behavior (18.28%, Mean = 12.122, SD = 1.908) during the peak of the pandemic. However, such difference disappeared after the peak because the contagion of positive donation behavior significantly decreased along with the abatement of the pandemic. Second, the participants' social anxiety decreased along with the abatement of the pandemic, and social anxiety completely mediated the relationship between the pandemic abatement and the decrease in the contagion of positive donation behaviors. These findings advance our understanding of the motivations and influence mechanism of individuals' donation decisions in the current pandemic situation and help make informed policy making decisions.
我们进行了一项跨期在线实验，以检验他人积极和消极捐赠行为的传染性。我们在中国新冠疫情高峰期及之后收集了两组数据。参与者向慈善基金“抗击新冠疫情，中国慈善联合会在行动”进行捐赠。我们进一步研究了社交焦虑在捐赠行为传染性与新冠疫情形势变化之间关系中的中介作用。共有1022名参与者（年龄中位数 = 22.68，63.01%为女性）参与了跨期在线实验，并纳入统计分析。我们的研究结果如下。首先，他人的捐赠行为显著改变了这些参与者最初的捐赠决定，捐赠金额的增加或减少分别与积极或消极捐赠行为相关。在疫情高峰期，他人的积极捐赠行为比消极捐赠行为更有可能促使这些参与者改变他们最初的决定（积极捐赠行为促使改变的比例为31.82%，均值 = 15.177，标准差 = 1.586；消极捐赠行为促使改变的比例为18.28%，均值 = 12.122，标准差 = 1.908）。然而，在疫情高峰期过后这种差异消失了，因为随着疫情缓解，积极捐赠行为的传染性显著下降。其次，参与者的社交焦虑随着疫情缓解而降低，并且社交焦虑完全中介了疫情缓解与积极捐赠行为传染性下降之间的关系。这些发现增进了我们对当前疫情形势下个人捐赠决策动机及影响机制的理解，并有助于做出明智的政策决策。
