"A small donation for …"
Every year the number of children in need rises. The charity organisation “Kindernothilfe” supports children and young people. For this purpose the organisation needs donators. Charity organisations are interested in increasing the motivation to support them. One of our study groups devoted a series of seminars to address this issue.
In a course project (General Psychology: Cognition, head: Prof. Dr. Matthias Brand), 14 students investigated if and how emotional texts influence donation behaviour. Additionally, they examined if perceived donation behaviour of others influences ones’ own donation behaviour. The course was held by Dr. Katrin Starcke and Christin Polzer (M.Sc.). According to Dr. Katrin Starcke, “conducting an experiment with real life impact was an enriching experience for both students and researchers.”
Students designed and conducted a study with more than 180 participants. Among other variables, personality variables and empathy were assessed. The study focused on the influence emotional texts have on the amount of money donated. Results revealed that emotionality has a strong impact on donations whereas the perceived donation behaviour of others has no effect. According to Oliver Krems from Kindernothilfe, “communicating with highly motivated students was very exciting.”
Students were enthusiastic, too: “We have learned that science is not necessarily dull. Besides, we were able to help someone in a practical way.” They presented their results on 20 July, 2011 on Campus Duisburg in front of their fellow students, scientific staff of the Section and two members of Kindernothilfe.
Further information:
www.kindernothilfe.de, www.uniaktiv.org