American Behavioral Scientist Special Issue: The Science and Imagination of Living Generously

Abstract

This special issue addresses the science and imagination of living generously. Generosity is investigated from multiple disciplinary approaches, across the seven articles included in the issue. The first article engages an economic approach to address heterogeneity and generosity for adult Americans, analyzing charitable giving before and after the great recession of 2008. The second article engages a psychological approach to investigate later life-course generosity by studying mortality salience – concerns over the end of life – and age effects on charitable donations. The third article engages sociological and management approaches to study how social science data impacts generosity, by investigating an interaction with data analytics during the life-course stages of emerging and young adulthood. The fourth article engages a psychological approach to examine earlier life-course dynamics, by studying whether and under what conditions children exhibit generosity of affection towards religious out-groups. The fifth article engages a psychological approach to investigate generosity, religion, and moral foundations for adults. The sixth article engages an economics approach to probe millennial generosity, challenging popular notions of greater selfishness in younger generations. The seventh article engages an educational approach to theorize connections between global and local ecological generosity in children’s stories, finding that creating stories together can be a tool to foster intergenerational transmission of care for the environment. Cumulatively, these seven article contribute new knowledge on generosity throughout complex and important life-course dynamics.