Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / Is there a positive relationship between doing good and feeling well? Does demonstrating behavior that is charitable in nature lead to a greater sense of well-being? While much of the literature regarding charitable behavior is focused on the motivation for giving, relatively little is understood about the outcomes of giving behavior. Using a model developed from social exchange theory and data from the 2004 General Social Survey, structural equation modeling was employed to explore this relationship. Testing the Charitable Activity – Perceived Wellness Relationship model led to acceptance of the finding that participation in charitable activity is positively related to an individual’s self-perception of well-being. Furthermore, income, education, and having a religious orientation were found to be positively related to self-reported well-being. These effects were enhanced by participation in charitable activity. The results of this study have potential uses for financial planning practitioners, policy makers, and others with interests in family resource management issues and well-being. The possible avenues for further study include refinement of the model, development of a conceptual framework for teaching and research in family resource management, and the integration of other theories related to charitable giving such as the Identification Theory of Care and the Aquinian concept of caritas.

Narcissists are not generally thought of as altruistic individuals. There are certain conditions, however, that may meet the needs of narcissistic individuals and thus elicit altruistic behavior. These conditions include recognition for the act, or adding to narcissists’ already high opinion of themselves through executing the act. Because narcissists also demonstrate impulsivity, it is also possible that a time pressure may induce narcissists as well as impulsive individuals to act altruistically. The aim of this study is to determine in what context, if any, narcissistic and impulsive individuals may display acts of altruism, specifically charitable giving. This study uses a 2 (recognized vs. unrecognized) x 2 (time limited vs. time unlimited) between groups design. Participants will complete a Stop Signal task, a charitable giving task in which recognition and time limit are manipulated, demographic questions, and two measures of narcissism. The expected results are that higher scores on overt narcissism will lead participants to donate in conditions in which they receive recognition for their donation. Higher scores on covert narcissism will lead participants to donate in conditions where they are not recognized. Individuals with higher impulsivity scores as determined by the Stop Signal task will donate in time pressured conditions over time unlimited. And furthermore, impulsivity will act as a mediator between narcissism and charitable giving in time-limited conditions. Finally, implications of these results and future directions for research are discussed.

The Welfare Reform Bill Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 contains a section referred to as "Charitable Choice." This section was designed to ensure that faith-based agencies were not discriminated against in the awarding of federal funding. States are not required to implement any part of the initiative, except ensuring that there is no discrimination against faith-based organizations. States have responded in a variety of ways in the hope of increasing the number of faith-based organizations receiving and competing for social services funds. Although religious groups have been receiving government funds to provide social services for much of American history, the faith-based initiative represents a new effort from both state and federal government to encourage even greater participation. There has been a tremendous amount of research on the impact of the faith-based organizations; however, very little attention has been given to the non-religious based social service organizations. To understand the impact of the faith-based implementation on non-religious based social service agencies, the primary focus was on examining: personnel, clientele, programs and services data, as well as internal and external factors. The secondary focus was determining if the implementation of the faith-based initiative signified the “second-order of devolution.” The study focused on three NBSSOs in Washington, D.C. Interviews were conducted with agency officials and data collected from all three agencies. While supporters argue that the faith-based initiative is about solving problems of poverty, taxing an over-burdened welfare system and violating the constitution, the researcher found that there was no impact of the faith-based initiative on non-religious based social service organizations. The participating agencies had been impacted by elected officials, public policy and federal funding, however; research also shows that there was no evidence of a “second-order of devolution.” The expected outsourcing of public services and the creation of numerous models of welfare systems with a variety of public-private partnerships that included secular non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations and religious organizations had not occurred.

Le premier essai utilise une expérience neuro-économique pour comparer l’effet de l’exposition sociale sur deux types de comportements pro-sociaux : faire le bien et éviter de faire le mal. Nous constatons que les gains d’image découlant des actes visibles de générosité sont calculés comme des récompenses dans les deux cas. Les décisions égoïstes sans conséquences d’images négatives sont calculées différemment : ne pas faire le bien (et économiser ainsi de l’argent) est corrélé avec les régions du cerveau liées à la récompense, alors que faire le mal (et donc gagner de l’argent) est corrélé avec les régions du cerveau liées à l’anticipation de la punition et au dégoût moral.Le deuxième essai étudie comment l’information sur la véritable efficacité des organismes de bienfaisance (et sa visibilité sociale) affecte les contributions des petits donateurs. Nous constatons que les individus ignorent les mauvaises performances des organismes de bienfaisance quand le don est couvert par l ?anonymat mais augmentent leurs contributions aux organismes de bienfaisance qui sont plus performants que prévu. Toutefois, lorsque le montant donné et l’efficacité du destinataire sont de notoriété publique, les donateurs motivés par des préoccupations d’image sociale traitent la quantité et la qualité de leurs dons comme des substituts.Le troisième essai étudie les effets du contrôle dans les relations de principal agent où les intérêts monétaires sont alignés. En comparant le contrôle direct avec des règles impersonnelles générales, nous montrons que le contrôle direct génère plus de coûts cachés du côté de l’agent que les règles impersonnelles. En même temps, les directeurs ont tendance à moins exercer leur autorité lorsque les règles sont impersonnelles, car cela les obligent à signaler leur cupidité même lorsque ce n' est pas nécessaire. / This thesis contains two essays that assess the role of social image concerns in charitable giving decisions and one essay that explores the role of authority in hierarchical relationships characterized by aligned monetary interests.The first essay uses a neuro-economic experiment to compare the effect of social exposure on two types of pro-social behaviors: doing good and avoiding doing bad. We find that image gains deriving from visible acts of generosity are computed by the brain as rewards for both decisions. Differently, selfish decisions with no negative image consequences are computed differently: not doing good (and thus saving money) correlates with reward-related regions, while doing bad (and thus earning money) correlates with regions related to punishment’s anticipation and moral disgust.The second essay studies how information about real charities’ efficiency (and its social visibility) affects small donors contributions. We find that individuals disregard bad news about their own charities when giving happens under full anonymity, but do increase their contributions to charities that perform better than expected. Differently, when both the amount donated and the efficiency of the recipient are public knowledge, donors motivated by social image concerns treat the quantity and the quality of their donations as substitutes.The third investigates the effects of control in principal-agents’ relationships where monetary interests are aligned. By comparing direct control and general impersonal rules, we show that direct monitoring generates significantly more hidden costs of control from the agent side than impersonal rules.At the same time however, principals tend to exercise their authority less when restrictions are impersonal, as these force them to signal their greed also when unnecessary.

O presente trabalho científico possui por escopo estudar a imunidade tributária às contribuições sociais destinadas à seguridade social das entidades beneficentes de assistência social mencionada no artigo 195, §7º, da Constituição Federal de 1988, bem como a abrangência dessa hipótese imunitória aplicável a essas espécies de entidades sem fins lucrativos. A imunidade tributária é uma norma de estrutura contida na Constituição Federal de 1988 que impede que União, Estados, Distrito Federal e Municípios tributem certas pessoas, fatos ou bens. Em outras palavras, as imunidades tributárias são normas constitucionais de incompetência tributária. A Constituição Federal de 1988 elenca inúmeras espécies de imunidades tributárias, dentre as quais a imunidade às contribuições sociais destinadas à seguridade social das entidades beneficentes de assistência social. Sempre que determinada pessoa jurídica enquadrar-se no conceito de entidade beneficente de assistência social e observar as exigências contidas na lei será ela imune. De acordo com a Carta Magna de 1988, consideram-se entidades beneficentes de assistência social as pessoas jurídicas que promovem as ações descritas em seu artigo 203. Neste trabalho científico, analisaremos se farão jus à imunidade tributária às contribuições sociais destinadas à seguridade social somente as entidades que possuem por objetivo as ações descritas no artigo 203 ou se o conceito de entidade beneficente de assistência social é mais abrangente. Afora enquadrar-se no conceito de entidade beneficente de assistência social, a instituição, para fins de fruição da imunidade às contribuições sociais destinadas à seguridade social, deve preencher alguns requisitos dispostos em lei. Mas que lei vem a ser esta: ordinária ou complementar? Consoante será demonstrado ao longo deste trabalho científico, tal lei só pode ser a complementar, haja vista esse ser o único instrumento normativo apto a estabelecer os requisitos a serem preenchidos visando ao gozo da imunidade às contribuições sociais destinadas à seguridade social, não obstante esse não ser o entendimento atual de grande parte dos integrantes do Poder Judiciário Brasileiro. / This Masters Thesis aims at studying the tax immunity on social insurance contributions for the social security of those charitable organization for social assistance mentioned in section 195, §7 of the 1988 Federal Constitution, as well as the extent to which this hypothesis of immunity may be applicable to these types of non-profit making entities. Tax immunity is a structural regulation included in the 1988 Federal Constitution that prevents the Union, States, Federal District and Municipalities from taxing certain persons, events or assets. In other words, the tax immunities are constitutional norms establishing the non-applicability of taxes. The 1988 Federal Constitution lists a number of types of tax immunities, amongst which is the immunity to social insurance contributions for the social security of charitable organizations for social assistance. A company shall be declared immune whenever it is understood to fit into the concept of a charitable organization for social assistance and whenever it meets the requirements established by law. According to the 1988 Federal Constitution, charitable organizations for social assistance are considered to be those companies that perform the activities described in its article 203. In this Masters Thesis, we will be analyzing whether it is fair for the tax immunity on social insurance contributions for social security to be applicable only to those organizations with the objectives described in section 203, or if the concept of a charitable organization for social assistance is more wide reaching. Besides fitting into the concept of a charitable organization for social assistance, the organization, in order to take advantage of the immunity from social insurance contributions for social security, must meet all the requirements established by law. But which law should this be: an ordinary law or a complimentary law? Accordingly, it is to be demonstrated over the course of this Masters Thesis that a complimentary law can be the only one applicable, since this is the only regulatory instrument able to establish the requirements that need to be met to take advantage of the immunity to social insurance contributions for social security, despite this not being the current understanding of the majority of those forming the Brazilian Judiciary.

This research examines how two prominent foundations (the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Lumina Foundation) identify problems, develop potential solutions, and attempt to foster their adoption across states and higher education institutions. As foundations play an increasingly central role in shaping how education institutions are funded, how they deliver course content, structure academic programs, and deliver student support services, the importance of these questions increases as well. This study draws on interviews with current and former foundation employees, as well as interviews with actors in consulting, advocacy, policy and research organizations, and extensive document analysis, to look beyond the foundations’ financial investments to examine how foundations and their grantees develop policy goals, strategies, and seek to affect education policy through ideas, research, and advocacy. This study finds that foundations are undergoing a policy learning process, whereby they modify strategies based on new information, input from partner organizations, and past investments. Limits and challenges to this process are also observed. How foundations grapple with new information is important, because this study also finds that foundations are influential political actors within the higher education completion agenda. In partnership with intermediary organizations, foundations raise awareness of their goals, problem definitions, and solutions, and take an active role in seeking out support for their higher education agendas, affecting both state policy and higher education institutions.

Existe atualmente uma tendência de maior utilização do sistema de saúde brasileiro, tal como de maior valorização dele, o que se justifica pelo modelo universalista do sistema de saúde nacional; envelhecimento da população nacional; aumentos dos gastos públicos com saúde; aumento da renda per capta dos brasileiros. Esse contexto traz consigo a demanda por práticas gerenciais capazes de auxiliar a área da saúde nos seus crescentes desafios. Um dos pontos relevantes de estudo nesse contexto é a avaliação de desempenho e eficiência organizacional das organizações de saúde, em especial, dos hospitais filantrópicos, utilizandose modelos específicos à sua realidade. Diante disso, o objetivo do presente estudo é desenvolver um modelo organizacional para avaliação de desempenho para os hospitais filantrópicos e, a partir dele, comparar a eficiência das organizações participantes da amostra. Por meio da revisão de literatura levantaram-se 31 variáveis, provenientes de seis perspectivas diferentes, que foram julgadas pelo autor como relevante para a avaliação de desempenho dos hospitais filantrópicos, das quais, 21 foram consideradas como as mais relevantes por 14 especialistas que as avaliaram por meio do método Delphi. Ademais, outras quatro variáveis foram apresentadas como relevantes pelos entrevistados e adicionadas à proposta de modelo para avaliação de desempenho de hospitais filantrópicos. A partir desses fatores, estabeleceram-se variáveis de inputs e outputs dos hospitais possíveis de serem utilizadas, das quais se elaborou um questionário enviado para mais de 1.600 hospitais, obtendo-se de retorno 70 respostas válidas. Com a análise envoltória de dados determinaram-se quais os hospitais mais eficientes e quais elementos críticos para a eficiência. Conclui-se ainda que é incomum encontrar bases de dados robustas nos hospitais brasileiros e que análises de eficiência podem ser feitas embasadas em medidas de desempenho organizacional para se chegar a resultados de análise de desempenho com técnicas de análise de eficiência. / Nowadays, there is a trend of higher Brazilian health system usage, as well as its higher appreciation, what is justified by the universal model of national health system; national population maturing; increase in public health spending; increase of Brazilians per capta income. This environment brings along the demand for managerial practices that are able to support healthcare area in its increasing challenges. One of the highlights of study in this context is the organizational performance and efficiency evaluation, specially for charitable hospitals, using specific models, according to their reality. Based on this, the objective of this study is to develop an organizational model for performance evaluation to charitable hospitals and, from it, compare sample participant organizations efficiency. Through literature review it was presented 31 variables, from six different perspectives, judged by the author as relevant for charitable hospitals performance evaluation, from which 21 were considered relevant by specialists in Delphi method round tables. Furthermore, another four variables were presented as relevant by the participants and added to model proposal to charitable hospitals performance evaluation. From these factors, it was established input and output variables that were able to be used, and a questionnaire was elaborated and sent to more than 1.600 hospitals, gaining back 70 valid questionnaires. With DEA analysis, it was determined which hospitals are more efficient and which elements are critical to efficiency. It was concluded that it is not common to find robust databases in charitable hospitals and that efficiency analysis can be done supported by organizational performance measures to reach also organizational performance results.

The purpose of this study was to explore faculty/staff identification with their employing university and how that, in turn, may influence their decision to financially support the institution, or not. This study employed a case study approach and a mixed methods research design utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. An online survey using Cheney’s (1982) Organizational Identification Questionnaire measured faculty/staff members’ identification with the organization and with their specific departments. The survey also collected data on faculty/staff past charitable giving. Following the survey, qualitative focus groups and interviews were conducted with faculty/staff members to explore what factors contributed to their decisions to support the university, or not. The survey data revealed that faculty and staff members identify more highly with their departments and staff members identify more highly overall than faculty members. Yet, the survey also revealed that faculty members gave more financially to the university than did staff members. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed three overarching factors that influenced faculty/staff decisions to give, or not: affinity, capacity to give, and awareness. These findings offer insight to higher education universities and institutions about how identification between the faculty/staff members and the organization can affect their decisions to support the university. This case study makes a contribution to the literature on charitable giving, employee giving, and specifically, faculty/staff giving. It also extends extant literature on organizational identification, particularly targets of identification in a higher education context. Finally, this study offers practical implications for other universities, suggests directions for future research, and acknowledges the limitations.

Throughout the history of the United States, Americans customarily have given away their money, as well as their time to serve the common good. Americans will give "to build something, to fight something, or to save something" (Fink, 1990, p. 136). They make gifts to causes, or the societal problems represented by organizational missions, that are important to them. Individuals give not only to advance a common good, but also to receive private goods, or benefits that are internal, intangible, and in some cases, tangible (Steinberg, 1989). To create this feeling of reciprocity for prospective donors who have not actually benefited from the organization, charitable organizations attempt to attract these individuals by providing them with a benefit from the organization as a result of their donation of time or money. A benefit many individuals are now receiving as a result of their donations is the personal association, real or perceived, with a celebrity (Wheeler, 2002). Preliminary empirical evidence suggests that celebrities are more effective as endorsers when they are personally connected to a cause not only because they help raise awareness for the cause, but they also have a perceived higher level of involvement in the organization. To date, most celebrity endorsement research remains in the field of marketing, while fund raising is more effective when discussed from the public relations perspective (Kelly, 1991, p. 163). However, there currently is no discipline-specific public relations theory that merges the concept of celebrity endorsement with the concepts of symmetrical and asymmetrical fund raising. Fortunately, the interdisciplinary nature of public relations fosters the use of theoretical constructs from other areas of the social sciences, including marketing research (Werder, 2003). The mixed motive model of public relations (Dozier, L. Grunig, & J. Grunig, 1995) provides a framework when it is adapted to guide celebrity endorser fund raising success on a continuum between marketing and public relations. This study did not find support for the integrated communication model of celebrity endorsement fund raising since no significant differences existed between the different endorsers ability to increase the active seeking of information and acting on that information, information processing, and willingness to donate money and volunteer time for a charitable organization.

This dissertation research is a study of the anthropology of policy with welfare reform in general and charitable choice in particular as its focus. The study begins with the notion that policies work as instruments of governance and consequently have social and political implications. These policies are examined by exploring the manner in which Catholic Charities and policy makers in Florida are responding to the charitable choice mandate and how their views are shaping local policies. The study is framed within anthropological principles pertaining to economic, humanistic and philosophical tenets. The study provides a historical background of poverty, the development of the welfare state in the United States as well as some of the social, economic, and political factors that shape social policies. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with representatives from Catholic Charities, government agencies, legislative committees, and faith-based organizations, and through document reviews. Data were analyzed qualitatively and were managed using the software Atlas.ti. Analysis of the data show that while there is increased convergence between the state and faith-based organizations (FBOs), there is some hesitancy on the part of religious organizations to assume full responsibility for the poor, particularly without having any funding guarantees. The data also suggests that through the implementation of charitable choice religious organizations face the risk of becoming highly dependent on the state and therefore loose their voice and the possibility of lobbying for the poor. Furthermore, the data suggests that there are some aspects of the implementation of charitable choice that have not received congressional approval and may eventually jeopardize the entire faith-based initiative.