Ally or adversary: The effect of identifiability in inter-group conflict situations

Ilana Ritov; Tehila Kogut

doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.05.005

Ally or adversary: The effect of identifiability in inter-group conflict situations

Ilana Ritov, Tehila Kogut

School of Education

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

People's tendency to be more generous towards identifiable victims than towards unidentifiable or statistical victims is known as the identifiable victim effect. Recent research (Kogut & Ritov, 2007) called the generality of the effect into question, showing that in cross-national contexts, identifiability affects mostly willingness to help victims belonging to one's 'in-group'. The present research extends the investigation by examining the identifiability effect in inter-group conflict situations. In three experiments, employing hypothetical contributions as well as real monetary allocation in a dictator-game, we found that identifiability increased generosity towards a member of the adversary group, but it decreased generosity towards a member of one's own group. Possible mechanisms underlying this interaction are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	96-103
Number of pages	8
Journal	Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Volume	116
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.05.005
State	Published - 1 Sep 2011

Keywords

Charitable giving
Identifiable victim

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Applied Psychology
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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10.1016/j.obhdp.2011.05.005

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AB - People's tendency to be more generous towards identifiable victims than towards unidentifiable or statistical victims is known as the identifiable victim effect. Recent research (Kogut & Ritov, 2007) called the generality of the effect into question, showing that in cross-national contexts, identifiability affects mostly willingness to help victims belonging to one's 'in-group'. The present research extends the investigation by examining the identifiability effect in inter-group conflict situations. In three experiments, employing hypothetical contributions as well as real monetary allocation in a dictator-game, we found that identifiability increased generosity towards a member of the adversary group, but it decreased generosity towards a member of one's own group. Possible mechanisms underlying this interaction are discussed.

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Ally or adversary: The effect of identifiability in inter-group conflict situations

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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