What is the primary finding of this study regarding gender and donation behavior?

This research found that men are less likely to donate to women in need in a business (empowering) context compared to a domestic (non-empowering) context, and also give lower amounts than they would to men in similar empowering situations. This bias was not observed among female donors.

How does the 'empowering context' influence men's helping decisions towards women?

The study indicates that when women are in a potentially empowering context, such as a business setting, men are less inclined to offer help or donate smaller amounts. This suggests that men are less likely to support women in situations that might challenge existing gender hierarchies.

What mechanism is proposed to explain the gender-based donation bias observed in the study?

The research suggests that a lack of empathy for the female recipient among men partially mediates this gender-donation bias effect. This implies that reduced empathy contributes to men's decreased willingness to help women in empowering contexts.

Helping Decisions: Why Men Help Women Survive, Not Thrive

Quick Answer

Research by Bareket, Ein-Gar, & Kogut (2023) found that men are less likely to help women in need within empowering contexts, such as business settings, compared to domestic contexts or when helping men. Two studies (N=866) revealed that male donors gave less often and lower amounts to women in business contexts, a bias partially mediated by a lack of empathy for the female recipient. This suggests that men are less inclined to support women in situations that might challenge existing gender hierarchies, a pattern not observed among female donors.

Men are less likely to help women who need help in a business context than they are to help men.

This research examines gender-based helping behavior from a social dominance perspective. We focused on the interplay between the gender of a prospective donor and the gender of the recipient in shaping donation decisions in contexts that either empower recipients or not.

In two studies (N = 866), male (but not female) donors chose to donate less often (Study 2) and to give lower amounts (Studies 1–2) to women in need than to men when donations were made in a potentially empowering context – a business context (e.g., donating to a person whose shop burned down), than in a nonempowering context – a domestic context (e.g., donating to a person whose house burned down).

Lack of empathy for the female recipient among men partially mediated this gender–donation bias effect (Study 2). These findings suggest that men are less likely to help women in situations that empower women and challenge the existing gender hierarchy.

Link to the full paper

Frequently Asked Questions

1 What is the primary finding of this study regarding gender and donation behavior?: This research found that men are less likely to donate to women in need in a business (empowering) context compared to a domestic (non-empowering) context, and also give lower amounts than they would to men in similar empowering situations. This bias was not observed among female donors.
2 How does the 'empowering context' influence men's helping decisions towards women?: The study indicates that when women are in a potentially empowering context, such as a business setting, men are less inclined to offer help or donate smaller amounts. This suggests that men are less likely to support women in situations that might challenge existing gender hierarchies.
3 What mechanism is proposed to explain the gender-based donation bias observed in the study?: The research suggests that a lack of empathy for the female recipient among men partially mediates this gender-donation bias effect. This implies that reduced empathy contributes to men's decreased willingness to help women in empowering contexts.