The role of diffusion of responsibility, responsibility, and attitude in willingness to donate to a world hunger-related charity

Abstract

The role of diffusion of responsibility, responsibility, and attitude in willingness to donate to a world hunger-related charity was examined. Attitude towards helping others and attitude towards charitable organizations were the two attitude measures considered. In accordance with earlier studies on diffusion of responsibility, participation in the study was either as a member of a group or alone. Group versus non-group was established using priming techniques in a virtual environment. The intervention consisted of the viewing of a video from the World Food Programme website. Findings determined that the video exerted a significant effect on participants whether in the virtual group or alone, and on all variables with the exception of attitude towards charitable organizations, suggesting that such a video is an effective tool for fundraisers. It was also determined that, although responsibility was not diffused, it significantly impacted willingness to donate, with personal responsibility producing a more robust effect over social responsibility. Attitude towards helping others significantly impacted willingness to donate and also exhibited a covariate relationship with personal responsibility. Both of these findings suggest that a more personal, attitudinal type of responsibility is what promotes helping behaviors, rather than social responsibility that arises from social norms. These findings are supportive of the theory on prosocial behaviors and confirm the contributory role of responsibility when engaging in prosocial behaviors.