A reward prediction error for charitable donations reveals outcome orientation of donators

Objective: The motives underlying charitable donations are much debated and one striving question is whether people care about the outcome of charitable donations (outcome-orientation). Another motive discussed in this context can be regarded as action-oriented: people care about the act of giving per se (action-orientation). We tested for outcome orientation by investigating if brain activity in the NAc covaries with the amount of donated money. Methods: While lying in an MR scanner, subjects (N=33) made 180 decisions affecting their own payoffs and payoffs to a charity organization. In order to test the subjec…