Nicky HawkinsEquality and Diversity Forum and Catsnake

GIFS

How do we feel about facts?

Backdrop to our human rights research

Snapshot of our first attempt

• “We have a long history and tradition of support for human rights in this country and Winston Churchill’s Government helped draw up the rights that the Human Rights Act and the European Court protect.”

• “There are relatively few human rights cases involving illegal immigrants but they are blown out of all proportion by politicians and the media.”

Can we avoid crisis language?

Their conclusions• There is no statistical difference in the average donation amounts between the two appeals

• Traditional appeal– The traditional appeal made people feel guilty and angry which made them more likely to donate– But, it also made people feel repulsed and less hopeful and therefore less likely to donate– It also lowers hope, which made people feel less agency —i.e. they personally can do something to

help people in poor countries• Alternative appeal

– Made people feel more hopeful which was positively related to donating and agency

• Three emotions are correlated with donations – pity, anger and hope– There are different modes of getting people to donate more

• Agency is driven by hope, which was increased by the alternative appeal, but reduced by the traditional appeal– This is evidence for the collateral damage of appealing to people’s pity, guilt, and anger

And finally…

Nicky.hawkins@edf.org.uk @cyclinghawk