Social Norms and Charitable Giving: A Meta-Analytic Review

Cassandra M. M. Chapman; Jessica L. Spence; Lucas Dixon; Aimee E. Smith; Matthew J. J. Hornsey

doi:10.1177/01461672251383996

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Social Norms and Charitable Giving: A Meta-Analytic Review

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Social Norms and Charitable Giving: A Meta-Analytic Review

Cassandra M. M. Chapman, Jessica L. Spence, Lucas Dixon, Aimee E. Smith and Matthew J. J. Hornsey

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol.Advanced access

13-Nov-2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251383996

PMID: 41230884

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Abstract

prosociality

social norms

charitable giving

meta-analysis

Charitable giving is essential for supporting collective action on various social and environmental problems. Social norms are known to sometimes affect giving, but not always. In this multilevel meta-analysis, we aggregate data from 113 independent samples from research involving 100,469 people in 22 countries to understand the extent to which social norms influence charitable giving (r = .18, p < .001). We test a range of theoretical, methodological, and sample moderators to understand the conditions under which norms may be most effective at promoting giving. The relationship was stronger for injunctive than descriptive norms, when the norm referent was friends and family (vs. no referent or another ingroup), for internalized (vs. externally presented) norms, and potentially when the giving behavior was observed by others. Norms appear effective for most people, and especially for younger people and in non-WEIRD and collectivist contexts. Effects, however, were only found in published research and non-preregistered studies.

Details

Title: Social Norms and Charitable Giving: A Meta-Analytic Review
Authors: Cassandra M. M. Chapman (Corresponding Author) - The University of Queensland
Jessica L. Spence - The University of Queensland
Lucas Dixon - The University of Queensland
Aimee E. Smith - The University of Queensland
Matthew J. J. Hornsey - The University of Queensland
Publication details: Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc.
DOI: 10.1177/01461672251383996
ISSN: 1552-7433
PMID: 41230884
Copyright note: © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
Grants: Charitable triad: How donors, beneficiaries, & fundraisers influence giving, DE220100903 , Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Organisation Unit: School of Business and Creative Industries
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991217451702621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Psychology, Social