Skip to main content
Home
  • Connect!
  • Donate
  • My Account
  • Join/Login
  • S
  • About
    • What is Social and Personality Psychology?
    • Leadership
      • Elections
    • Get Involved
    • Committees
    • Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
    • Government Relations
    • Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology
    • Governance Documents
    • Staff
    • Jobs at SPSP
      • Benefits of Working at SPSP
      • Current Openings
  • Connect!
  • Join/Login
  • Home
  • Members
    • Membership Categories and Rates
    • Member Demographics
    • Member Directory
    • APA Division 8
    • Fellowship
    • Listservs and Shared Interest Groups
    • Member Deals and Discounts
  • Publications
    • Best Practices
    • Publication Policies
    • Resources
    • PSPB
      • Editorial Philosophy
      • Manuscript Preparation/Submission Guidelines
      • PSPB Online
    • PSPR
      • Manuscript Preparation
      • PSPR Online
    • SPPS
      • Manuscript Preparation
      • SPPS Online
  • Events
    • 2021 Convention
      • Register Now
    • Future/Past Conventions
    • Summer Psychology Forum
    • Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists
    • APA Convention (Division 8)
    • Student Opportunities
      • SISPP
      • SPUR
      • SASP
      • EASP
      • EAPP
    • Online Learning
  • Giving
    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Tribute Wall
    • Annual Reports
    • ARP Awards
  • Awards/Grants
    • Annual Awards
      • Senior Career Contribution Awards
      • Mid-Career Awards
      • Early Career Awards
      • Teaching and Mentoring Awards
      • Prizes for a Single Outstanding Contribution
      • Media Awards
      • Service Awards
      • Student Awards
      • Diversity Awards
    • Student Awards
      • Heritage Dissertation Research Award
      • Outstanding Research Award
      • Graduate Student Poster Award
      • Undergraduate Student Poster Award
      • Student Publication Prize
      • Jenessa Shapiro Graduate Research Award
      • Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award
    • Diversity Awards
      • Jenessa Shapiro Award for Contributions to Diversity and Inclusion
      • Jenessa Shapiro Graduate Research Award
      • Diversity Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award
    • Legacy Program
    • Registration Awards
      • Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award
      • Teacher/Scholar Registration Award
      • International Registration Award
      • International Bridge-Building Award
    • Small Research Grant Program
    • Small Conference Grant Program
    • Community Catalyst Grant Program
  • News
    • Member Newsletter
    • Student Newsletter
    • Character and Context Blog
    • Press Releases
    • Member Updates
  • Resources
    • Connect!
    • COVID-19
    • Free-Form Fridays
    • Students
      • Graduate Program Directory
      • Applying to Grad School
      • Life in Graduate School
    • Early Career
    • Primarily Undergraduate Institutions
    • Multimedia
      • #SPSPchat
      • SPSP Experts
      • Out of the Lab
      • Convention Videos
    • Funding
    • International Study and Work
    • Statistics & Data Analysis
    • Teaching
      • Recommended Textbooks
      • Syllabi Examples
      • Teaching Aids
      • Video
    • Applied Psychology
  • Careers
    • Find/Post a Job
    • Graduation Outcomes
    • Career Resources
    • Academic Job Market
    • Non-Academic Internships
    • Undergraduate Research
  • About
    • What is Social and Personality Psychology?
    • Leadership
      • Elections
    • Get Involved
    • Committees
    • Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives
    • Government Relations
    • Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology
    • Governance Documents
    • Staff
    • Jobs at SPSP
      • Benefits of Working at SPSP
      • Current Openings
  • Connect!
  • Join/Login
  • Home
  • Members
    • Membership Categories and Rates
    • Member Demographics
    • Member Directory
    • APA Division 8
    • Fellowship
    • Listservs and Shared Interest Groups
    • Member Deals and Discounts
  • Publications
    • Best Practices
    • Publication Policies
    • Resources
    • PSPB
      • Editorial Philosophy
      • Manuscript Preparation/Submission Guidelines
      • PSPB Online
    • PSPR
      • Manuscript Preparation
      • PSPR Online
    • SPPS
      • Manuscript Preparation
      • SPPS Online
  • Events
    • 2021 Convention
      • Register Now
    • Future/Past Conventions
    • Summer Psychology Forum
    • Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists
    • APA Convention (Division 8)
    • Student Opportunities
      • SISPP
      • SPUR
      • SASP
      • EASP
      • EAPP
    • Online Learning
  • Giving
    • Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Tribute Wall
    • Annual Reports
    • ARP Awards
  • Awards/Grants
    • Annual Awards
      • Senior Career Contribution Awards
      • Mid-Career Awards
      • Early Career Awards
      • Teaching and Mentoring Awards
      • Prizes for a Single Outstanding Contribution
      • Media Awards
      • Service Awards
      • Student Awards
      • Diversity Awards
    • Student Awards
      • Heritage Dissertation Research Award
      • Outstanding Research Award
      • Graduate Student Poster Award
      • Undergraduate Student Poster Award
      • Student Publication Prize
      • Jenessa Shapiro Graduate Research Award
      • Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award
    • Diversity Awards
      • Jenessa Shapiro Award for Contributions to Diversity and Inclusion
      • Jenessa Shapiro Graduate Research Award
      • Diversity Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award
    • Legacy Program
    • Registration Awards
      • Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Graduate Registration Award
      • Diversity Undergraduate Registration Award
      • Teacher/Scholar Registration Award
      • International Registration Award
      • International Bridge-Building Award
    • Small Research Grant Program
    • Small Conference Grant Program
    • Community Catalyst Grant Program
  • News
    • Member Newsletter
    • Student Newsletter
    • Character and Context Blog
    • Press Releases
    • Member Updates
  • Resources
    • Connect!
    • COVID-19
    • Free-Form Fridays
    • Students
      • Graduate Program Directory
      • Applying to Grad School
      • Life in Graduate School
    • Early Career
    • Primarily Undergraduate Institutions
    • Multimedia
      • #SPSPchat
      • SPSP Experts
      • Out of the Lab
      • Convention Videos
    • Funding
    • International Study and Work
    • Statistics & Data Analysis
    • Teaching
      • Recommended Textbooks
      • Syllabi Examples
      • Teaching Aids
      • Video
    • Applied Psychology
  • Careers
    • Find/Post a Job
    • Graduation Outcomes
    • Career Resources
    • Academic Job Market
    • Non-Academic Internships
    • Undergraduate Research

You are here

Home » News » Press Releases

Want Narcissists to Donate to Your Cause? Make it About Them

Image of businesswoman admiring herself in the mirror
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

BUFFALO, N.Y. — When narcissistic individuals are able to imagine themselves in a victim’s situation, they are more likely to donate to charity, according to new research from the University at Buffalo School of Management.

The study, forthcoming in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that appeals explicitly asking donors to put themselves in the recipient’s circumstance were more effective at provoking concern and donations from narcissists than appeals that only described the recipient’s plight.

“It’s the difference between showing the need and asking the donor to ‘stand in someone else’s shoes,’” says co-author Arun Lakshmanan, PhD, associate professor of marketing in the UB School of Management. “Charitable giving is about having empathy — recognizing and responding to the needs and emotions of other people. Narcissists have difficulty with that, so asking them to imagine themselves as the person in need can help elicit genuine concern and, thus, donations.”

Lakshmanan and UB School of Management alumna Esther Kang, PhD ’15, assistant professor of consumer psychology and behavior in the University of Cologne, conducted and analyzed four studies involving more than 1,300 individuals. In the first three experiments, completed online, the researchers manipulated the type of appeal participants received, measured their level of narcissism and asked them to rate their donation intentions. For the final study, they analyzed an actual fundraising campaign for a church-based mission group by sending out two appeals, comparing the donations received for each and surveying the donors.

Past research has suggested that fundraising campaigns should communicate the benefits to others to best generate compassion and donations, but according to Lakshmanan, their study showed that these “imagine-recipient” appeals are not as effective with narcissists.

“Particularly for causes to which donors have little personal connection — an unfamiliar disease, a need halfway around the globe — we recommend using vivid pictures, first-person stories and ‘imagine-self’ language to draw in high-narcissism donors,” Lakshmanan says.

The researchers found the positive effect of “imagine-self” appeals dissipated when it was difficult or impossible for narcissists to project themselves into the recipient’s circumstances, such as with animals or medical conditions that largely affect the opposite gender.

Lakshmanan says their findings may help fundraising professionals engage the imaginations of narcissistic donors and move them to open their wallets.

However, he does not suggest abandoning recipient-focused appeals, as they may be effective at reaching other individuals; in particular, their research showed that “imagine-self” and “imagine-recipient” appeals were equally effective at engaging individuals with lower levels of narcissism.


By Matthew Biddle, University at Buffalo

Study: Esther Kang et al. Narcissism and Self- Versus Recipient-Oriented Imagery in Charitable Giving, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2018). DOI: 10.1177/0146167218764658 

Tags: 
narcissism
charity
behavior
Sidebar: Press Contact

Media Contact:

Annie Drinkard
Public and Media Relations Manager
press@spsp.org
Phone: (202) 869-3243


Share this page
 
Society for Personality and Social Psychology
1120 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 280
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 869-3240
spspinfo@spsp.org
Facebook Icon Twitter Icon LinkedIn Icon
  • About
  • Connect!
  • Join/Login
  • Home
  • Members
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Awards/Grants
  • News
  • Resources
  • Careers
© 2021. Society for Personality and Social Psychology®. All rights reserved.

View our Privacy Policy here.