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The Importance of National Identities and Intergroup Relations in Disaster Aid

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Intergroup Helping

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine how a salient intergroup relationship can affect individual donation decisions. We discuss findings and theoretical considerations under four pertinent categories: (1) group memberships and donor familiarity; (2) the donor–perpetrator relationship; (3) the donor–victim relationship; and (4) intergroup relations as perceived by the donor. With regard to group memberships and donor familiarity, we find that participants are more willing to help Asian victims after a 5 min quiz that improves their knowledge of an outgroup. With regard to donor–perpetrator and donor–victim relationships, we find that both perpetrator and victim categories can be manipulated in order to engender a more prosocial response. Moreover, consideration of perpetrator roles, in addition to the more frequently studied role of the victim, can aid in eliciting a charitable response. Finally, with regard to intergroup relations as perceived by the donor, we find that Chinese participants are more willing to help Japanese tsunami victims if they have a positive image of Japan as a nation; however, this same positive image can also decrease donations if Japanese victims are seen to be highly competent. In sum, we demonstrate the importance of intergroup contexts in understanding donation behaviour and suggest that such contexts can be used to promote helping behaviour. We end with both suggestions for future work and a discussion of practical implications for fund raisers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Ridley Building 1, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Trevor Keith James

  2. Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK

    Hanna Zagefka

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  1. Trevor Keith James
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  2. Hanna Zagefka
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Correspondence to Trevor Keith James .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Organisational Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Esther van Leeuwen

  2. Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom

    Hanna Zagefka

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James, T.K., Zagefka, H. (2017). The Importance of National Identities and Intergroup Relations in Disaster Aid. In: van Leeuwen, E., Zagefka, H. (eds) Intergroup Helping. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53026-0_13

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