Exploring the effect of social distance on altruism and trust in umbilical cord blood donors
Allogeneic umbilical cord blood (UCB) donation is a prosocial behavior directed to strangers at some cost for the donor. Although the promotion of such behavior is an important goal of many countries’ health systems, little is known regarding the motivations beyond it. Here, we explored how altruism and trust were modulated by social distance in a sample of newmothers (N=168) who might or not have donated the UCB. Participants played hypothetical Dictator and Trust games with others that could be socially close (e.g. parents) or distant (e.g. strangers) from them.