CHARITY LURE: Identifiable Victim Effect

IDENTIFIABLE PERPETRATOR EFFECT

By Staff Reporters

***

***

According to colleague Dan Ariely PhD, the The Identifiable Victim Effect [IVE] is why we’re more moved by one person’s story than by statistics. It’s easier to empathize with a single, identifiable victim than with a faceless group. Charities know this and often highlight individual stories to tug at our heartstrings. It’s a powerful reminder that our compassion is wired for personal connections.

The identifiable victim effect has two components. People are more inclined to help an identified victim than an unidentified one, and people are more inclined to help a single identified victim than a group of identified victims. Although helping an identified victim may be commendable, the identifiable victim effect is considered a cognitive bias. From a consequential point of view, the cognitive error is the failure to offer N times as much help to N unidentified victims.

The identifiable victim effect has a mirror image that is sometimes called the identifiable perpetrator effect. Research has shown that individuals are more inclined to mete out punishment, even at their own expense, when they are punishing a specific, identified perpetrator.

So, when you hear a touching story that makes you want to help, remember: it’s your brain responding to the power of a single, human face.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

Leave a comment