As a Psychology and Behavioural Sciences MSc student, I care about deepening the understanding of the underlying psychological and behavioural factors that facilitate and hinder altruism and pro-social behaviour. I am particularly interested in questions like: What makes people care about a certain global issue or cause? What drives people to engage in altruistic behaviours? What incentives and barriers exist for effective giving and pledging? By seeking and applying answers to these questions, I hope to make a meaningful impact.

In line with Giving What We Can (GWWC)’s desire to make their work more evidence-based, we are conducting a study to better understand how to encourage more people around the world to donate to highly effective charities. We recognize that giving and pledging are not always the best ways for everyone to have an impact and that various factors can either facilitate or hinder effective giving and pledging. Therefore, we are running a study to improve our understanding of what influences people to give or pledge to effective charities.

Currently, we need 80 more participants who have not taken a GWWC pledge to participate in this study by completing a 15-minute survey.

If we reach this target, we aim to share the results with the broader effective giving community, increasing the value of any insights gained. If you take part in the study, we will follow up with you and provide a document that compares your responses to the average responses of all participants. This should give you some interesting information about how your beliefs, conceptions, and answers compare to others.

We also send a heartfelt thank you to the hundreds of participants who have already taken part in the study!