The impact of anger on donations to victims
| Author | Seger M Breugelmans,Janne van Doorn,Marcel Zeelenberg |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0269758017710819 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
The impact of anger
on donations to victims
Janne van Doorn
Leiden Univerity, The Netherlands
Marcel Zeelenberg
Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Seger M Breugelmans
Tilburg University, The Netherlands
Abstract
This article investigates if and when anger appeals (communications that elicit anger in people), can
be used to increase donations to charity. In an experimental study the idea was tested that anger
leads to higher charitable donations, under the condition that people can restore equity with that
donation (i.e., restore the harm done to the victim). Results indeed show that when one’s donation
serves a specific restorative function (i.e., compensates the suffering of women so that they can
start a new life) as compared to a non-restorative function (i.e., offers help in special crisis centers
for women, to alleviate their suffering and not worsen their situation), angry participants donated
more to charity. This difference was absent when people did not experience anger. Furthermore,
angry people donated more to the restorative charity than people not experiencing this emotion.
The effect of anger on charitable donations occurred independently from people’s empathic
concern. These results thus suggest that anger can act as an emotional appeal in soliciting charitable
donations.
Keywords
Anger, victim, charity, donation, empathy
Corresponding author:
Janne van Doorn, Department of Criminology, Leiden University, PO Box 9520, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Email: janne.vdoorn@gmail.com
International Review of Victimology
2017, Vol. 23(3) 303–312
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0269758017710819
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