Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-11-2024
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Carrie Smith
Second Advisor
Andrew Hales
Third Advisor
Rachel Greenspan
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Historically, society wishes to encourage people to be good – but also warns against being bad. There is little comparison between the two of which works: the threat of damnation through vice, or the promise of salvation through virtue. This study examines how each of these affect donation behavior. There are two studies within the present research, each with 149 participants randomly assigned into three categories: control, vice, and virtue. Participants were distracted then asked to view an image based on their randomly assigned category, followed by a donation question: would participants donate a $1.00 bonus to a local charity, and how much of that $1.00 they would donate. We find that participants in both Study 1 and Study 2 donated more often than not, but in Study 2 vice motivated participants to donate more often than the other two categories. This was not found to be the case in Study 1. Implications for future directions are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Pitts, Hayley, "Can vice make us virtuous? The effects of greed reminders on charitability" (2024). Honors Theses. 3167.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3167