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

Ilana Ritov and Tehila Kogut

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2011, vol. 116, issue 1, 96-103

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.

Keywords: Identifiable; victim; Charitable; giving (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:116:y:2011:i:1:p:96-103

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