title: The heart of the story: peripheral physiology during narrative exposure predicts charitable giving.
abstract: Emotionally laden narratives are often used as persuasive appeals by charitable organizations. Physiological responses to a narrative may explain why some people respond to an appeal while others do not. In this study we tested whether autonomic and hormonal activity during a narrative predict subsequent narrative influence via charitable giving. Participants viewed a brief story of a father's experience with his 2-year-old son who has terminal cancer. After the story, participants were presented with an opportunity to donate some of their study earnings to a related charity. Measures derived from cardiac and electrodermal activity, including HF-HRV, significantly predicted donor status. Time-series GARCH models of physiology during the narrative further differentiated donors from non-donors. Moreover, cardiac activity and experienced concern were found to covary from moment-to-moment across the narrative. Our findings indicate that the physiological response to a stimulus, herein a narrative, can predict influence as indexed by stimulus-related behavior.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation, Claremont Graduate University, United States. Electronic address: jorge.barraza@cgu.edu.
authors.forename: Jorge A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Barraza
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation, Claremont Graduate University, United States.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation, Claremont Graduate University, United States.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Beavin
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation, Claremont Graduate University, United States.
authors.forename: Elizabeth T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Terris
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroeconomics Studies, School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation, Claremont Graduate University, United States; Department of Neurology, Loma Linda University Medical Center, United States.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Zak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response / Q000502:physiology*; D037921:Gift Giving; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Autonomic physiology; Charity; Emotion; Heart rate variability; Hormones; Influence; Narrative