5 May to 12 May

Why does compassion struggle so much with numbers?

Charities often use emotive advertising to attract much-needed funds. One way they do this is by focusing on individual cases, rather than generalities. It is easy to understand why. Research by Paul Slovic, Professor of Psychology at Oregon University, suggests that we are more likely to donate charitably when faced with the plight of a single person, than if we are asked to donate to a faceless mass. For example, staring into the eyes of Miles, an abused baby in NSPCC advertising, triggers concern that is more likely to galvanise us into to action than informing us about the problems of child abuse in a more generalised way. Of course, as a result of this strategy, some people will expect that their donation will be used to help Miles while, in reality, it will be spread over the charity as a whole.

'One death is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic', or so the saying goes. Horrific events like those in Darfur, where over 200,000 people have been killed in four years, stun us into inaction. Somehow the sheer weight of numbers portrayed through the media seems to emotionally incapacitate us. Why does compassion struggle so much with numbers?  

Until recently Will Clement was a Training Officer in HR at Leeds Met. He recently moved to Good Practice, where he is a business development consultant.