Males Are More Charitable Than Females – Term Paper

 Abstract

Gender differences play a very important part in determining how men and women respond to calls for donations or funding requests from charity organizations. This paper is based on a hypothetical study aimed at illustrating the differences between men and women when it comes to charitable giving.  The paper uses on observation method to determine how men and women make their charitable giving decisions and how gender plays a role in effecting such decisions. Based on an analysis of the findings, the study establishes that men are more charitable than women.

Keywords: Charitable giving, Gender Differences, Donations,

 Males Are More Charitable Than Females

Literature Review

Differences in gender between men and women are evident in a variety of things, including charitable giving. Therefore, the gender aspect of charitable giving has been one of the most prominent aspects of contemporary studies on how charities and nonprofit organizations ought to attract more funding (Monk-Turner, et al., 2002). Nevertheless, different studies have produced a wide range of findings, all of which are backed up by relevant evidence. There are many different factors that need to be considered when assessing the gender differences in charitable giving (Simmons & Emanuele, 2007). For example, personal preferences, financial resources, and priorities among other factors have a significant impact on how both men and women respond to charity or almsgiving (Monk-Turner, et al., 2002). For instance, differences in the levels of financial resources between men and women can influence not only their ability to donate to the charitable course but can also determine the type of course that they are willing and able to support (Simmons & Emanuele, 2007).

Findings from these studies can help the nonprofit organizations to tailor their fundraising efforts to attract the right people for funding. Some studies focus on analyzing the impact of men and women with higher incomes in a household and how this affects the charitable giving decisions for the couples (Byrne, 2008). On the other hand, some studies focus on the differences in almsgiving between men and women of the same age and in the same situations. Nevertheless, the underlying factor in all these studies is the fact that men and women respond differently to charity organizations (Simmons & Emanuele, 2007).

Among couples, the levels of income of a household can also affect their affinity to charitable giving. For example, in a household where the income of the man rises significantly, there tends to be a sharper focus on charitable giving (Monk-Turner, et al., 2002). For the most part, such couples often tend to support religious organizations, youth and international organizations as well as combined purpose charities (Byrne, 2008). Families where men have higher levels of income often tend to donate in larger amounts towards these charities and courses (William, 2015). Among some of the combined purpose organizations in the US that receive a huge backing from men or form households where men earn higher incomes include the United Way, Catholic Charities, and the United Jewish Appeal among others (Byrne, 2008). On the other hand, households where the women earn higher levels of income often tend to focus more on donating to charities that provide human services such as the Red Cross, a homeless shelter, of the Salvation Army (Simmons & Emanuele, 2007).

Furthermore, some studies also indicate that about 45% of the donors surveyed usually focus more on charities that promote course for women and girls. For example, about 50% of women give their donations to these charities, while 40% of the men also support such courses (Simmons & Emanuele, 2007).  

Charitable giving is one form of altruism as it mostly focuses on boosting or improving the welfare of other people, who are considered to be marginalized, disadvantaged, or the less fortunate in the society. Altruism or selflessness is one of the traditional virtues across many cultures in the world (Byrne, 2008). It is a practice or principle that expresses concern for the general well-being or welfare of other people. Thus, altruism is the opposite of selfishness, as it is mostly concerned about giving to charitable organizations to support good courses that help create a positive impact on the lives of the marginalized and less fortunate people (Monk-Turner, et al., 2002).

Both men and women are actively involved in effective altruism, which calls for individuals to consider existing causes and actions when acting in a manner that brings about the biggest impact in the society based on the values they hold (Byrne, 2008). However, as some studies suggest, men and women respond differently to altruistic behaviors or virtues. There are several factors that inform how men and women respond to giving to charitable causes. As indicated above, some of these factors include the levels of income (Byrne, 2008).

Method

Research Design

This study is based on the descriptive research design. Essentially, the descriptive research methodology is a fact-finding research study, which entails an adequate and accurate interpretation of data to accurately depict the population through the findings. Descriptive research basically describes different qualities of the sample population through processes such as case study analyses, observations, and surveys. As such, this research design is appropriate for this research study because the research aims at describing the gender differences in charitable giving and altruistic behavior between men and women. Thus, the research uses a combination of various descriptive research technics, including observation and normative surveys. These two technics are appropriate for this study because of the enable the researcher to formulate useful generalizations, based on the description of the specific qualities of the sample population under investigation.

Participants

The study involved 81 participants with 28.4% of them (23) being male and 71.6% (58) being female participants. The research participants were aged between 17 and 67 years.

Materials/Apparatus

The study relied on an independent sample test (T-test for Equality of Means) to analyze the research findings gathered from the participants.

Procedures

The study mainly focused on studying altruistic tendencies between men and women.

Results

Based on the findings gained form the data collection procedures, the research established that males are more charitable than females. A summary of the findings of the study can be summarized as shown in the figure below

Figure 1.3 Histograms of Altruism by gender

The study also showed that older men are more willing to participate in charitable acts than women of the same age. On the other hand, more single, divorced and unmarried women were found to be largely attracted towards making donations to religious organizations and causes hat promote the welfare of animals. On the other hand, most men focused on contributing towards causes that are associated with the environment.

An independent T-test was conducted to compare he gender differences in charitable giving or altruism between men and women. The findings showed that t (79) = 3.31, p = .001 (2-tailed), thus agreeing with the perspective that men are more charitable than women.

Discussion

The findings from this research study are consistent with findings from other similar studies investigating the topic of gender differences in altruistic behavior between men and women. Participation in charitably acts also varies (William, 2015). While most men participate in charities through giving financial donations, women on the other hand are seen as willing to participate in charities as volunteers (Andreoni & Vesterlund, 2001). Therefore, compared with women, men are more willing to make financial donations, but few of them are willing to participate as volunteers in charity projects. For example, studied indicate that about 52% of men make weekly or monthly contributions to charity while only 42% of women do the same (Andreoni & Vesterlund, 2001). Also, when comparing between men and women with similar levels of income, studies indicate that the men are more willing to donate larger amounts of money than women in the same tax brackets (Monk-Turner, et al., 2002).

Furthermore, recent studies also indicate that men and women are attracted to different charitable causes. For example, most of the women are more likely to be attracted towards causes that related to animal welfare while most men will be attracted to causes that are associated with environmental issues (Andreoni & Vesterlund, 2001).

Therefore, based on the findings of this study, it is clear that gender differences play a very critical role in influencing altruistic behavior between men and women. Gender affects the way men and women respond to charitable activities in their surroundings (William, 2015). While other factors such as income play a significant role in influencing how people give alms, recent studies, including this research see to pinpoint on the fact that charitable acts also need to be understood from a gender-based perspective (Andreoni & Vesterlund, 2001). Gender is important especially for nonprofit organizations and other charity organizations that are out to attract funding. It is important for these organizations to understand the role that gender differences play in influencing how men and women respond to calls for funding from different organizations (Monk-Turner, et al., 2002). Therefore based on the findings of this study, it is clear that organizations focusing on environmental issues ought to focus more on seeking to fund from men while those promoting issues such as animal rights or the rights of the girl child need to align their efforts for seeking to fund to females (Byrne, 2008).

References

Andreoni, J., & Vesterlund, L. (2001). Which is the fair sex? Gender differences in altruism. QuarterlyJournal of E[conomics,16(1), 293-312.

Byrne, N. (2008). Differences in types and levels of altruism based on gender and program. Journal of Allied Health, 37(1), 22-29.

Monk-Turner, E.; Blake, V.; Chniel, F.; Forbes, S.; Lensey, L.; Madzuma, J. (2002). “Helping hands: A study of altruistic behavior”. Gender Issues 20 (4): 65–70.

Simmons, W. O., & Emanuele, R. (2007). Male-female giving differentials: are women more altruistic?. Journal of Economic Studies, 34(6), 534-550.

William M. (2015). Doing Good Better – Effective Altruism and a Radical Way to Make a Difference. Guardian Faber.