So you want that feeling you get when you eat or have sex – easy, make a charitable donation.
A study undertaken shows that donors experience similar feelings to eating and sex when they dip their hand in to help others.
An article in the NY Times “Our Basic Human Pleasures: Food, Sex and Giving” states:
“Brain scans by neuroscientists confirm that altruism carries its own rewards. A team including Dr. Jorge Moll of the National Institutes of Health found that when a research subject was encouraged to think of giving money to a charity, parts of the brain lit up that are normally associated with selfish pleasures like eating or sex.”
Perhaps it wouldn’t be a good idea to use likes like “Want that warm feeling you get when you’ve eaten a great meal – make a donation” or “Sex isn’t the only thing that makes you feel good – donating does too, help us today” – or could you?
It’s always interesting to see why people give, what motivates them – but even more interesting is reading studies that show what effect giving has on donors.
For the academics among you – read Human fronto–mesolimbic networks guide decisions about charitable donation
charitymattersnz.com 