Does gender affect a person’s willingness to be charitable?
Oliver O’Connor
While there are many factors that present themselves when it comes to a person’s ‘willingness’ to donate , I will argue – using an experiment – that the most significant factor is gender.
Hypothesis
Based on a study done at Indiana university (see below) my hypothesis is that women will donate more often and in greater amounts than men. I believe that the altruistic nature women ‘must’ possess in the modern-day environment will play the largest part in the higher levels of charitability seen in women.
Planning considerations
A few factors were key for the initial planning phase. Firstly, the weather on the day was considered a very important factor and the day the experiment was conducted was pushed back several times for optimal weather conditions. I considered this in fact the most essential factor to the experiment, on the basis that that no one would want to donate on a rainy day when they are outside. However, the opposite effect must be considered if we were inside on a rainy day. Secondly, I believed that the location would be an essential consideration, specifically a location where the majority of people would have a higher average income as they are more likely to donate – income was found to be the third most important factor in the Indiana university study. But also, the infrastructural space was considered very important. This was for two reasons: firstly, in leisure and retail areas which are home to spontaneous decisions and carefree relaxation, a person’s brain is tuned into an empathetic state of mind. The min d shifts from modern day struggles such as work to a ‘more human’ frame of mind. In addition, the geographical locations of the two areas of donation collection were very important in maintaining a fair environment for the experiment. Thirdly, for the experiment a boy and a girl were needed. There were many considerations to be taken into account such as the age of the collectors, what they were wearing, their ethnicity and overall appearance. To eliminate as many subconscious bias factors as possible, a twin pair of one boy and girl were asked to collect donations. Furthermore, on the day they wore the same pre-planned clothing: white shoes, jeans, a black shirt, and high-vis vest. They were also asked to not wear any jewelry or branded clothing in order to eliminate any possible biases.
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