TEARAID · From TEARs to AID: the effects of emotional tears in images of refugees on helping through crowdfunding actions

From TEARs to AID: the effects of emotional tears in images of refugees on helping through crowdfunding actions

Forced migrants often appear in mass and social media with tearful faces, but little is known about the impact these images have on the receiving society's willingness to help. Emotional expressions, such as crying, may play a significant role. Research suggests that people are more likely to support individuals who shed tears, but the effects of emotional tears on helping behavior have yet to be examined, especially in an intergroup context. The TEARAID project aimed to shed light on the relationship between tearful portrayals of refugees and the promotion of two types of prosocial intentions and/or behavior: autonomy-oriented help, which aims to promote refugees’ agency, and dependency-oriented help, which aims to alleviate suffering by providing necessities such as food and shelter. Furthermore, the project measured real helping behavior by inviting participants to support actual social initiatives that help refugees. Observer’s emotional reactions and inferences were considered as important underlying mechanisms in the help-eliciting function of tears. The project addressed three main challenges. First, it aimed to examine the effects of emotional tears on the promotion of prosocial behavior and hence to provide an innovative tool for measuring such behaviors, creating joint initiatives with civil society organizations and fundraising campaigns. Second, it aimed to determine why the effects of tearful images occur, testing the role of underlying mechanisms such as the perceived needs or humanness of the tearful person and the emotions felt in response to tears. Third, it aimed to identify the factors that strengthen or weaken these effects, including the characteristics of a person who is shedding tears, as well as those of the observer. We addressed these challenges in the intergroup context, using both standardized and real-life photos and videos of refugees from social campaigns by NGOs to compare people's reactions to tearful and non-tearful images across seven experimental studies. TEARAID provided valuable insights into the effects that images of tearful refugees in mass media and social campaigns have on solidarity with refugees, helped to improve applied measures of prosocial behavior, and offered an opportunity to create initiatives bridging social science, art, fundraising campaigns, and civil society organizations.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union