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An evolutionary explanation for ineffective altruism

Nature Human Behaviour volume 4, pages 1245–1257 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

We donate billions to charities each year, yet much of our giving is ineffective. Why are we motivated to give but not to give effectively? Building on evolutionary game theory, we argue that donors evolved (genetically or culturally) to be insensitive to efficacy because people tend not to reward efficacy, as social rewards tend to depend on well-defined and highly observable behaviours. We present five experiments testing key predictions of this account that are difficult to reconcile with alternative accounts based on cognitive or emotional limitations. Namely, we show that donors are more sensitive to efficacy when helping (1) themselves or (2) their families. Moreover, (3) social rewarders don’t condition on efficacy or other difficult-to-observe behaviours (4, 5), such as the amount donated.

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Fig. 1: Study 1: savings but not donations were sensitive to multipliers.
Fig. 2: Study 2: willingness to pay and empathy were sensitive to the number helped for family members but not for strangers.
Fig. 3: Study 3: social rewards were sensitive to whether a donor gave but not to the match rate.
Fig. 4: Studies 4 and 5: social rewards were sensitive to whether a donor gave but not to the amount or fraction donated.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings reported in this paper are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Yoeli, A. Bear, M. Singh, J. Jordan and P. DeScioli for their feedback on this manuscript; N. Baloch, Y. Mehra Bardoloi, K. Barolak, B, Davis, O. Lala and H. Mullins for their help in calculating and awarding the bonuses; S. Ryan, A. Viser, E. Wilson and P. Choi for their help in formatting the manuscript and editing the figures; and the John Templeton Foundation for financial support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Bethany Burum

  2. Department of Mathematics, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Martin A. Nowak

  3. Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Moshe Hoffman

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  2. Martin A. Nowak
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All authors edited the manuscript and approved the final version. B.B. and M.H. designed the studies and wrote the manuscript, in consultation with M.N. B.B. collected and analysed the data. The study designs were based on theory developed by M.H.

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Correspondence to Bethany Burum.

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Burum, B., Nowak, M.A. & Hoffman, M. An evolutionary explanation for ineffective altruism. Nat Hum Behav 4, 1245–1257 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00950-4

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