To figure this out, we’re going to examine five factors that influence our charitable behavior: 1.Visibility. We give more when we’re being watched. 2.Peer pressure. Our giving responds strongly to social influences. 3.Proximity. We prefer to help people locally rather than globally. 4.Relatability. We give more when the people we help are identifiable (via faces and/or stories) and give less in response to numbers and facts. 5.Mating motive. We’re more generous when primed with a mating motive. This list is far from comprehensive, but taken together, these factors help explain why we donate
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