“Open to Give”: Mindfulness Improves Evaluations of Charity Appeals That Are Incongruent with the Consumer’s Political Ideology

Abstract

Previous research has established that both liberals and conservatives tend to reject charity appeals that are incongruent with their political ideologies. We posit that a brief mindfulness intervention can improve consumers’ evaluations of charity appeals whose values appear incongruent with their political ideology. In four studies, we show that a brief mindfulness meditation increases evaluations of charity appeals among consumers with incongruent political ideologies. The effect is mediated by openness to experience and disappears when consumers are under a high cognitive load. The findings offer implications for how to increase generosity to charities on both sides of the political divide.