Neural Responses to Taxation and Voluntary Giving Reveal Motives for Charitable Donations

TLDR

Civil societies depend on taxes and charitable contributions, which may be motivated by pure altruism—benefiting the public good regardless of source—or warm glow, which rewards individuals for voluntary giving. Neural imaging shows that mandatory tax‑like transfers to charity activate reward areas, the magnitude of which predicts voluntary giving, and additional activation occurs when transfers are voluntary, indicating that both pure altruism and warm glow shape the hedonic impact of public‑good contributions.

Abstract

Civil societies function because people pay taxes and make charitable contributions to provide public goods. One possible motive for charitable contributions, called "pure altruism," is satisfied by increases in the public good no matter the source or intent. Another possible motive, "warm glow," is only fulfilled by an individual's own voluntary donations. Consistent with pure altruism, we find that even mandatory, tax-like transfers to a charity elicit neural activity in areas linked to reward processing. Moreover, neural responses to the charity's financial gains predict voluntary giving. However, consistent with warm glow, neural activity further increases when people make transfers voluntarily. Both pure altruism and warm-glow motives appear to determine the hedonic consequences of financial transfers to the public good.