Money Well Given: Donations Predict Social Capital Gains For Low Ses, But Not High Ses Individuals

Acting prosocially builds weak social ties; however, it is unclear whether this effect is the same for people from different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Here, we propose and test the notion that acting prosocially promotes weak ties more for lower SES individuals. In Study 1, we found that among 737 Americans, donating was positively related to having more Facebook friends, but only among people with low income. In Study 2, in an online chat paradigm, 560 people tended to enjoy interacting with strangers they perceived as prosocial than non-prosocial, but only if they believed the partner to have low income. If they believed the partner to have a high income, whether the partner was perceived to be prosocial or non-prosocial did not influence their enjoyment of the conversation. These findings suggest that prosociality acts as a special pathway to building weak ties for those who have few social resources.