Charitable giving is commonly studied in terms of whether and how much individuals donate. However, this focus implicitly assumes that different resources are morally interchangeable, overlooking a more fundamental question: in what form people choose to give. Drawing on social exchange theory and cultural psychology, this research examines how belief in karma shapes individuals’ preferences for donating time versus money.
We argue that, within karmic belief systems, moral actions are evaluated based on their qualitative moral enactment rather than quantitative magnitude. Because donating time more directly embodies personal sacrifice, experiential involvement, and sustained moral effort, it is perceived as more spiritually efficacious and morally weighty than donating money. Across a series of experiments, we find that stronger karmic beliefs increase individuals’ preference for time donations over monetary donations.
This effect is mediated by karmic reciprocity motivation, reflecting a generalized moral exchange with a cosmic order, and is contingent on transcendent gratitude. Specifically, karmic reciprocity motivation translates karmic beliefs into time-donation preferences only when individuals experience high levels of transcendent gratitude. By demonstrating how cultural belief systems render resources morally non-equivalent, this research extends social exchange theory beyond interpersonal reciprocity and offers actionable insights for designing culturally resonant charitable appeals.
We thank SHIYU ZENG for his contributions to the initial stages of this research. School of Management, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Dongguan, China SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China The authors declare no competing interests. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant institutional guidelines/regulations for research involving human participants.
Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Guangdong University of Science and Technology. The approval covered all procedures of the present research, including the online and offline survey experiments with adult participants conducted for this study. All participants were adults who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study and provided informed consent prior to their participation.
Consent was obtained in written electronic form through the online survey platform, which was used to administer all questionnaires. The informed consent process was conducted by the research team. Participants were clearly informed about the purpose and procedures of the study, their right to withdraw at any time without penalty, and the voluntary nature of their involvement.
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