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Altruism born of suffering? The impact of an adverse health shock on pro-social behaviour

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  • Nicole Black
  • Elaine De Gruyter
  • Dennis Petrie
  • Sarah Smith

Abstract

‘Altruism born of suffering’ (ABS) predicts that, following an adverse life event such as a health shock, individuals may become motivated to act pro-socially. However, this has not yet been examined systematically. Using data from the United States Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find that a health shock does not lead to a general increase in pro-social behaviour. Instead, ABS is akin to a specific shock that affects giving to health charities, with an increase in the probability of giving and amounts donated to health charities coming at the expense of other non-religious charities.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole Black & Elaine De Gruyter & Dennis Petrie & Sarah Smith, 2020. "Altruism born of suffering? The impact of an adverse health shock on pro-social behaviour," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 20/736, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:bri:uobdis:20/736
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Blanco, Esther & Baier, Alexandra & Holzmeister, Felix & Jaber-Lopez, Tarek & Struwe, Natalie, 2022. "Substitution of social sustainability concerns under the Covid-19 pandemic," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Esteban Jaimovich, 2024. "The Intensive Margin of Altruism: Impact of Covid-19 on Charitable Giving in England and Wales," Working Papers 297, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    3. De Gruyter, Elaine & Petrie, Dennis & Black, Nicole, 2023. "Household donations of time and money in response to a health shock," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    4. Maria Cotofan & Konstantinos Matakos, 2023. "Adapting or compounding? The effects of recurring labour shocks on stated and revealed preferences for redistribution," CEP Discussion Papers dp1957, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Cotofan, Maria & Matakos, Konstantinos, 2023. "Adapting or compounding? The effects of recurring labour shocks on stated and revealed preferences for redistribution," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121297, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Georganas, Sotiris & Laliotis, Ioannis & Velias, Alina, 2022. "The best is yet to come: The impact of retirement on prosocial behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 589-615.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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