From Sinners to Saints: How Redemption Stories Motivate Charitable Giving

This research shows how exposure to a redemption story—a narrative wherein someone overcomes challenges resulting from their own moral failures to become more moral—can motivate charitable giving. Across four studies, people donated more after encountering a redemption story relative to stories in which a protagonist was always moral or improved in a less moralized domain. This is because two critical elements of redemption stories—morality and growth—elicit greater moral elevation when both are present compared to stories with one or neither of these elements. Additionally, the impact of redemption stories is stronger among those with higher internalized moral identities, because they are particularly attuned to moral content. Redemption stories also have higher impact when the protagonist begins from a position of greater adversity. These findings demonstrate that redemption stories are a novel and effective way to increase charitable donations due to their morally elevating effects.