title: Civic engagement and giving behaviors: The role of empathy and beliefs about poverty.
abstract: The current study explores different routes to civic involvement by identifying how a context-specific dimension of empathy and beliefs of autonomy and dependency might jointly predict different types of giving behaviors (i.e., monetary donations), which in turn should predict civic engagement. The sample consisted of 1,294 participants (656 females) between the ages of 18 to 64 (M(age) = 38.44, SD = 14.71), randomly selected from seven different cities in Chile. Even after controlling for gender, age, and the socioeconomic status of participants, results mainly support the role of giving behaviors as drivers of actual engagement in civic life. Monetary donations, in turn, are predicted by higher levels of empathy toward poverty and autonomy-oriented beliefs. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of agentic perspectives on civic participation.
authors.affiliation: a Sapienza Università di Roma.|b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Bernadette Paula Luengo
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Kanacri
authors.affiliation: b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Valdenegro
authors.affiliation: b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Moya
authors.affiliation: c University of Sussex.
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Saavedra
authors.affiliation: b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Eduardo Andrés
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.affiliation: b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: b Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Lucas Silva
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Didier
authors.affiliation: a Sapienza Università di Roma.
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pastorelli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002677:Chile; D003256:Community Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014838:Volunteers / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Civic engagement; empathy; giving behavior; monetary donations