Answers to questions from the newspaper “Rech” (Cherepovets) Question: “I would like to get a comment from a psychologist on the topic: why do people do charity, why do they help those they don’t know at all, and raise money all over the world. This is very interesting, because this process has especially intensified in the last ten years. Is this due to the fact that our society has become more stable than before, or vice versa, due to the fact that social stratification is now more noticeable?” Answer: Despite the fact that charity has existed in human society for millennia, in psychology, in particular in social psychology, interest in this phenomenon arose relatively recently. In part, I agree that we are seeing a definite explosion in philanthropy, and more and more people are getting involved in this process. But let's not create another myth, that our people en masse are beginning to morally cleanse themselves and turn their faces towards their neighbors. In fact, the overwhelming majority of Russians are not inclined to engage in charity, and do it (if they do) from time to time, depending on the situation, depending on who should be helped, etc. If they are not organized and, roughly speaking, some features of the motivation of potential benefactors are not used for good purposes, then they will not lift a finger (see survey results - http://vk.com/wall20533817_20814). Moreover, there is a considerable percentage of people who completely refuse to engage in charity work, because they do not see any benefit or meaning in it. Answer: “Someone would help me!” - this is also not such a rarity in modern society. The development of “folk” charity is largely facilitated by the development of modern means of personal communication. It is very difficult to gather several thousand people living in several regions of the country “offline” for a charity event. But uniting hundreds of other people “online” who are ready to really help with something is difficult, but quite possible. If there are those who are ready to take on the organizational hassle, regardless of personal time, the idea may well be realized. There are more than enough examples of this. I would like to touch on one more topic of this problem, which may not be to everyone’s liking. Sometimes charitable groups collect amounts for the same treatment of a person, which are simply astronomical and raise doubts about their validity. Take the position of the same business clinic and you will understand how beneficial it is for them to develop charitable movements in the world. Set any amount “from the lantern”, and people will “strain, release and collect.” Now let's talk about the motivation of the philanthropist. In such cases, we usually talk about external and internal motivation. External – it is caused by external circumstances and is more like sponsorship. Yes, the philanthropist is not looking for possible income from his activities, but the word “good reputation” is not superfluous for him. By the way, very often the fame of a person’s charity goes “from hand to hand”, because “shine” in the media in this case will be ugly. This type of motivation also includes the desire to increase the network of one’s personal social contacts, help friends, simply develop managerial competencies, cope with a tormenting “inferiority complex” that can be overcome by external activity, etc. The internal motivation of a philanthropist is a more complex phenomenon. A person can proceed either from the emotional “I want” or from the rational “need”. Both the motivations for his thoughts, actions, and then actions can be considered internal, emanating from the “soul”. In the case of “I want,” the impetus for charity could be feelings of empathy (“I myself lost a child like that!”, “I also couldn’t find money for my mother for treatment!”), involvement in what is happening (“in this city this could easily happen to me !"). In the case of “need”, slightly different motives that come “from the mind” begin to take over..