Millions of charities compete for charitable donations, yet the underlying factors influencing individuals' preferences for specific causes remain relatively poorly understood. Building upon the ongoing scholarly debate about whether charitable behaviors are more altruistically or egoistically motivated, this study employs a self and other orientation framework to explore the preferences captured in a community survey (N = 987) to identify the various motivations relevant to donors' decision-making processes. Our study contributes significantly to our understanding of charitable cause selection. First, it uncovers diverse motives directly endorsed by donors, offering insight into the multifaceted factors influencing preferences. Second, it unveils distinctive constellations of motives related to self and other orientations, shedding light on the underlying drivers of charitable actions. Third, it delineates the impact of various identity motives on charitable preferences. Specifically, we find that self-oriented motives are associated with preferences for environmental and research causes, while other-oriented motives exhibit a strong link with preferences for housing and development causes. Additionally, a combination of self and other motives shapes preferences for health, social services, emergency, and international causes. This complex interplay highlights that prosocial behavior is susceptible to a plurality of motives and cannot be solely understood through a binary distinction of altruism versus egoism. The study also contributes to the broader understanding of the psychology of charitable giving and has implications for fundraising design in a competitive market.

中文翻译：

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捐赠者选择慈善事业的自我和他人动机

数以百万计的慈善机构竞相争夺慈善捐款，但影响个人对特定事业偏好的根本因素仍然知之甚少。基于正在进行的关于慈善行为是出于利他还是出于利己的动机的学术争论，本研究采用自我和其他导向框架来探索社区调查（N  = 987）中捕获的偏好，以确定与捐赠者决策相关的各种动机- 制作过程。我们的研究对我们对慈善事业选择的理解做出了重大贡献。首先，它揭示了捐助者直接认可的不同动机，提供了对影响偏好的多方面因素的洞察。其次，它揭示了与自我和其他取向相关的独特动机，揭示了慈善行为的潜在驱动力。第三，它描绘了各种身份动机对慈善偏好的影响。具体来说，我们发现自我导向的动机与环境和研究原因的偏好相关，而其他导向的动机则与住房和发展原因的偏好密切相关。此外，自我动机和其他动机的结合塑造了对健康、社会服务、紧急情况和国际事业的偏好。这种复杂的相互作用凸显出亲社会行为容易受到多种动机的影响，不能仅仅通过利他主义与利己主义的二元区别来理解。该研究还有助于更广泛地理解慈善捐赠的心理，并对竞争市场中的筹款设计产生影响。