Goal gradient in helping behavior

• People are more likely to pitch in as charitable campaigns approach their goals. • Three studies showed evidence of this goal-gradient helping behavior. • Perceived impact and heightened satisfaction explain the late stage contributions. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o People are more likely to pitch in as charitable campaigns approach their goals. Such " goal gradient helping " occurs in part because late-stage efforts provide donors with a heightened sense of personal impact, an influential source of satisfaction from prosocial acts. Using web robot technology in an Internet field study of micro-lending, Study 1 demonstrated that charity contribution rates increase as recipients approach their fundraising goals. Study 2, a large-scale field experiment, found that funds close to reaching campaign goals received more donations than did funds far from reaching campaign goals. Study 3 replicated the goal gradient helping effect in a controlled scenario experiment, and mediational analyses showed that increased perceived impact of late-stage contributions, and the resultant satisfaction from this impact, explain goal gradient helping. In conclusion, people are not charitable simply to be kind or to relieve negative emotions; they find satisfaction from having personal influence in solving a social problem. Introduction Generous acts can increase happiness. People who have greater opportunities to volunteer are happier than those whose have fewer (Meier & Stutzer, 2008). Mesolimbic reward systems in the brain that activate when we receive rewards also activate when we donate to charity (Moll et al., 2006). There even is evidence that helping others can provide greater satisfaction than helping ourselves; people who are randomly assigned to spend money on others report greater happiness than do those who are randomly assigned to spend the same amount of money on themselves (Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008). Where does the joy of giving come from? In this paper, we explore the idea that perceptions of personal impact are an influential source of prosocial satisfaction. Specifically, we use the domain of goal pursuit, and the finding that people experience a greater feeling of progress when they approach achieving a goal, to explore the role of impact as both a driver of charitable acts, and as a source of satisfaction from prosocial behavior. As humans and other animals approach reaching a goal, their efforts toward that goal increase (Locke & Latham, 1984). Rats run faster as …