Generosity for Life: The Science and Imagination of Living Generously

Despite growing interest in generosity, scholars know little about how generosity evolves over individuals’ lives. Science and humanities researchers have studied generosity in disparate ways, not yet combining scientific inquiry with reflective expression. The proposed project will link generosity scholars across disciplines to expand research design, data collection, and data access while illuminating key cohort and generational trends in generosity. The project will also expand the Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS), the most comprehensive longitudinal study of generosity within and among American families. The project's first concrete output includes the construction of an interactive website, GenerosityforLife.com for use by children, parents, educators, nonprofit leaders and researchers. Building on PPS data in combination with insights from scientific inquiry and humanities research, this platform will provide customized information about Americans’ generosity at different life stages over time using highly visual and dynamic web components that highlight generosity research. The second concrete output includes the expansion of life-course generosity science and humanities research supported through a regranting program. The RFP competition will increase the depth of generosity research by combining engagement, relevance, and meaning with scientific fact. The third concrete output includes the expansion of generosity life-course research by investigating 3 important themes of generosity: intergenerational dynamics in generosity, consequences of generosity on well-being, and an experimental evaluation that will objectively measure how social information provided through GenerosityforLife.com influences an individual’s decision-making in generosity. The last concrete output is the expansion of PPS panel data. GenerosityforLife.com will be an web tool encouraging individuals to discover, reflect on, and practice generosity.