Why Your Brain Wants To Help One Child In Need — But Not Millions

NPR:

Why do people sometimes give generously to a cause — and other times give nothing at all?

That’s a timely question, because humanitarian groups fighting the Ebola outbreak need donations from people in rich countries. But some groups say they’re getting less money than they’d expect from donors despite all the news.

Psychologist Paul Slovic of the University of Oregon has some answers that may surprise you.

In one study, Slovic told volunteers about a young girl suffering from starvation and then measured how much the volunteers were willing to donate to help her. He presented another group of volunteers with the same story of the starving little girl — but this time, also told them about the millions of others suffering from starvation.

Read the whole story: NPR