Collective streaks motivate prosocial behavior

We introduce a novel method for perpetuating prosocial behavior: highlighting collective streaks of behavior across individuals (e.g., “the last X people in a row have done it”). In 11 experiments (total N = 12,688), asking people to join a short ongoing streak of charitable donors was more effective than informing them of a high percentage of previous donors (e.g., “X% of people have done it”), because streaks increased feelings of personal impact on subsequent donors. Collective streaks can be effective even when their members are anonymous, and offer a way to encourage prosocial behaviors whether or not they are already popular: stating that 5% of people have donated is far from motivating, stating that 5 people in a row have donated induces further donation. Our findings illustrate how learning about the behavior of even a few peers can be a psychologically powerful motivator, particularly when they enable individuals to influence future others.