Reciprocity belief and gratitude as moderators of the association between social status and charitable giving

- Two psychological mechanisms underlying reciprocity are proposed.
- Social status significantly positively predicts charitable giving.
- Reciprocity beliefs promote charitable giving for high-status individuals.
- Feelings of gratitude foster charitable giving for low-status individuals.

This study investigates the effect of social status on charitable giving by individuals. Based on research on economic reciprocity, two psychological mechanisms, i.e., reciprocity belief and gratitude sentiment, are proposed to explain the association between social status and charitable giving. Participants were asked to recall the nature of their money giving as it usually occurs across different types of donations. They also reported their socioeconomic status, degree of reciprocity belief, and level of gratitude. Results showed that social status significantly predicted charitable giving by individuals. As predicted, high-status participants donated more money when they held a stronger belief in reciprocity, whereas low-status participants tended to be more generous in their donations when they felt more gratitude.