• DOI:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2015.01.008
• Corpus ID: 14306833

The heart of the story: Peripheral physiology during narrative exposure predicts charitable giving

@article{Barraza2015TheHO,
  title={The heart of the story: Peripheral physiology during narrative exposure predicts charitable giving},
  author={Jorge A. Barraza and Veronika Alexander and Laura E. Beavin and Elizabeth T. Terris and Paul J. Zak},
  journal={Biological Psychology},
  year={2015},
  volume={105},
  pages={138-143}
}

• Jorge A. Barraza, V. Alexander, +2 authors P. Zak
• Published 1 February 2015
• Medicine, Psychology
• Biological Psychology

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.