When considering giving money to humanitarian crises people often donate in response to events that grab their immediate emotions, according to a recent study by CU-Boulder psychology professor Leaf Van Boven.
"The question we wanted to answer with our study is what is the impact of people's emotions on their decisions to make charitable donations," Van Boven said. "We demonstrated that people act on what is immediately emotionally arousing to them. In other words, they respond to what makes them upset in the here and now."