Inducing the Concept of Love among Men and their Compliance to a Donation Request for an Association against Domestic Violence toward Women

Abstract

Previous research found that exposition to the concept of love appeared effective to increase men's helping behavior toward women. However, only direct solicitation was examined. In this study, 40 men were first induced with the idea of love with the help of a dummy survey about love and romantic behavior, and one minute later they were asked to help an association against domestic violence toward women. In the control condition, 40 men were induced using a neutral dummy survey on odd jobs. More men (35.7%) donated to the association in the love-inducing condition than in the control condition (17.5%). No statistical difference was found in the amount of money left in the two conditions: 1.40€ in the love-inducing condition and 1.12€ in the control condition. The results suggest that the love-inducing method does not only activate motivation for romantic relationships with women but also influences men's concerns about a women's cause.