Hide the light or let it shine? Examining the factors influencing the effect of publicizing donations on donors’ happiness

•We investigate the impact of publicizing donations on donors’ happiness within one pilot study and two laboratory studies.•Publicizing donations causes donors to feel less happy.•The moral identity and volition moderate the relationship between publicizing and happiness.•The reputation benefits from publicizing mediate the effect of publicizing on happiness.

Conflicting arguments exist for whether charities should publicize or ask donors to publicize their charitable contributions. The current research provides an initial examination of the psychological consequences when charities ask individual donors to publicize their own good deeds. Two studies show that when donors are required to publicize their donations, this action creates reputation benefits, which then cause individual donors to feel less happy and be less likely to help in the future, especially if they have a high (vs. low) moral identity. However, the negative influence of publicizing diminishes if the choice to publicize is optional rather than mandatory.