Adding scale statistics to a single identifiable case reduces compassion and giving

Evidence

In a widely cited experiment, Slovic showed that potential donors gave more money to aid an identified child — “Rokia, a seven-year-old girl from Mali” — than to the abstract problem of food insecurity in Africa affecting millions of children. When the information about Rokia was combined with statistical information about the scale of the problem, donations actually decreased. More information produced less response. — , The Rod and the Child, 8725

Categorization

• SEED: A strong hook for an article on why effective altruism’s data-heavy framing may undercut its own fundraising — the identifiable-victim effect in charity communication.
• XREF: Connects to the numbers-versus-narrative contrast in Slovic’s work and to this book’s broader theme of testimony as transportation. — connects to: Human worth depends on recognition by another person; Adding statistics to an individual’s story reduces charitable giving — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 11053; Compassion fails when suffering lacks a visible individual face — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 344 (+1 more)

Related

• Adding statistics to an individual’s story reduces charitable giving (similarity 0.88)
• Compassion fails when sufferers are collectivities rather than visible individuals (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Adding statistics to an individual’s story reduces charitable giving #corroborates (0.95) — , The Rod and the Child, 11053