Social Class and Prosocial Behaviors

Consumer researchers have long been interested in the association between social class and consumer preferences or “tastes” (Henry and Caldwell 2018; Martineau 1958). They have also shown interest in prosocial behavior and what influences prosociality (Goswami and Urminsky 2016; Simpson, White, and Laran 2018). With inequality growing in many regions of the world (OECD 2015)”title” : “In it Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All”, “type” : “book” }, “uris” : [ “http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=abd51e4fa22a-49e1-b3a9-76b7169a303d” ] } ], “mendeley” : { “formattedCitation” : “(OECD 2015 and charity institutions increasingly competing for funds (Weerawardena, McDonald, and Mort 2010), understanding the role played by social class on prosocial acts becomes of major importance. In the present research, we examine how social class relates to prosociality. Although psychologists and economists have recently delved into this topic, there are a few distinguishable gaps. First, the evidence is mixed and still incipient. While some have documented that those who have less give more (Chen, Zhu, and Chen 2013; Côté, House, and Willer 2015; Guinote et al. 2015; Piff et al. 2010)including many children left behind by parents who had migrated to urban areas for work, played the DG. Stickers comprised the resource, while recipients in the game were assumed to be either their friends or strangers, with the social distance (i.e., strangers compared to friends, others have proposed and shown that affluent people donate, help, and volunteer more than those with less resources (Benenson, Pascoe, and Radmore 2007; Gittell and Tebaldi 2006; Korndörfer, Egloff, and Schmukle 2015). Second, the vast majority of the studies have been conducted in nations where the levels of poverty and inequality are relatively low, which leaves open the question of how social class and prosociality would relate to one another in societies where extreme inequality prevails and resource scarcity can be shockingly high. Finally, the literature has paid little attention to the potential interactions between social class and type of prosocial behavior.