Do you feel like we do? Stanford psychologists examine how culture can guide giving

New research by Stanford psychologists analyzes cultural effects on giving. They find that people are willing to offer more money to others who display similar emotional expressions and that those expressions are even more powerful factors than race or sex.

How can culture influence giving? Some scholars have argued that people are more likely to share with others who are similar in terms of race or sex, but the evidence for this is mixed.

New research by Stanford psychologists, which appeared this week in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, suggests, however, that similar emotional expressions can motivate giving, and can do so even more than a common race or sex.