Science of Generosity
Is there a gene that determines how generous you are? That’s one of the questions that a new research initiative at the University of Notre Dame hopes to answer. The new Science of Generosity Initiative has just finished funding 13 projects that will help science (mostly social science) better understand the effects of generosity on the giver and the receiver.
Over the course of the next two years this group of researchers from across the country will study various elements of generosity, from socio-economic conditions that allow people to give to what neural circuitry is involved in doing generous behavior like donating blood or helping the less fortunate.
Based on the premise that underpinned Notre Dame professor Christian Smith’s book Passing the Plate, which examined why Christians in the U.S. don’t give more, the generosity research is aimed at helping non-profit organizations — from the Salvation Army to the Peace Corps — figure out why donors give.
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To learn more about the Science of Generosity Initiative at the University of Notre Dame go to http://generosityresearch.nd.edu/. There you’ll find news and information on the 14 generosity research projects they’re supporting and conducting.