Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exposure To Covid-19 Is Associated With Increased Altruism, Particularly At The Local Level, Gianluca Grimalda, Nancy R. Buchan, Orgul D. Ozturk, Adriana C. Pinate, Giulia Urso, Marilynn B. Brewer

Faculty Publications

Theory posits that situations of existential threat will enhance prosociality in general and particularly toward others perceived as belonging to the same group as the individual (parochial altruism). Yet, the global character of the COVID-19 pandemic may blur boundaries between ingroups and outgroups and engage altruism at a broader level. In an online experiment, participants from the U.S. and Italy chose whether to allocate a monetary bonus to a charity active in COVID-19 relief efforts at the local, national, or international level. The purpose was to address two important questions about charitable giving in this context: first, what influences the …