Strength and Number of Solicitors and the Urge toward Altruism

Door-to-door solicitors contacted 371 people and asked for donations to the Leukemia Society of America. Solicitors were either of high strength (middle-aged and well-dressed females) or of low strength (college-aged and casually dressed females), either stood close or far from the door, and either approached the door alone or in pairs. Pairs of high strength solicitors elicited more donations than low strength pairs or single solicitors, while distance had no effect. The results provide some support for social impact theory and have implications for better collection techniques and for our conceptions of generosity and altruism.