Charitable maximizers: The impact of the maximizing mindset on donations to human recipients

The majority of donations are dedicated to helping human recipients. Building on prior lit-erature that demonstrates the role of downward social comparisons between donors and donation recipients in elevating willingness to help those in need, we propose that a max-imizing mindset increases such downward social comparisons, which in turn promote donations to human recipients. A set of seven studies, including online and field experi-ments and a secondary dataset, provides convergent support for the effect of the maximiz-ing mindset (whether measured as an inherent individual difference or activated as a temporary mindset) on donations and the mediating role of downward social comparisons. This research enriches the understanding of donations to human recipients by showing that donations can be enhanced by a maximizing mindset. Our findings offer important insights to donation-raising agencies. Specifically, activating the maximizing mindset among prospective donors-by embedding certain words in donation appeals or encourag-ing donors to think about their best choices in everyday life-could benefit charities and social-cause platforms in their efforts to raise donations to support the needy. & COPY; 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Based on the research, a maximizing mindset increases the willingness to donate to human recipients by promoting downward social comparisons. Seven studies, including online and field experiments, provide evidence for the effect of the maximizing mindset on donations and the mediating role of downward social comparisons. This research enriches the understanding of donations to human recipients by highlighting the role of a maximizing mindset.