眼泪作为人际互动中的社会信号，对慈善捐赠的影响及其机制尚不明晰。通过五项研究，探究眼泪促进捐赠意愿的效果和机理。研究1a、1b采用实验法分别探究了眼泪与中性/悲伤图片对捐赠效果的影响，结果发现眼泪比中性/悲伤图片更能提高捐赠意图和金额；研究1c通过模拟捐赠网页材料探究了眼泪与中性情绪对捐赠效果的影响，进一步证实眼泪能提升捐赠意图和金额。研究2发现眼泪通过同情与感知需求间接促进捐赠的链式中介机理。研究3探究了眼泪促进捐赠意愿的边界条件，结果发现与积极情境相比，眼泪在消极情境下更能提高捐赠意愿。五项研究整合了移情-利他假说与眼泪的信号理论，拓展了两个理论的边界，为慈善募捐项目设计实施提供了启示。

Besides moisturizing and protecting the eyes, tears serve as potent social signals. They reinforce emotional meaning, shape social interactions, and facilitate prosocial behavior. Empirical research has suggested that emotional tears can increase attentional focus on distressed individuals and enhance the motivation to provide support. Despite these findings, the impact of emotional tears on charitable giving, a significant form of prosocial behavior, remains inconclusive. On the one hand, tears may amplify perceived vulnerability and need, thereby eliciting sympathy and increasing the likelihood of donations. On the other hand, excessive emotional displays may be perceived as manipulative or evoke psychological reactance, commonly criticized as “poverty porn.”

Existing research suffers from three key limitations. First, there is a scarcity of studies that directly examine tears in charitable donation contexts. Second, there is an overreliance on single-mechanism explanations, such as sympathy alone. Third, there is a lack of exploration into moderating factors, such as emotional congruency or contextual framing. To address these gaps, the current investigation employed five experimental studies based on real Tencent Charity donation materials to assess the causal influence of tearful expressions on charitable giving, explore the underlying mechanisms, and test boundary conditions.

Study 1a (N= 122) used a single-factor, two-level between-subjects design to compare tearful vs. neutral facial expressions. The results indicated that participants exposed to tearful images reported significantly higher one-time donation amount (p <.05), monthly donation intention (p =.050), and monthly donation amount (p =.066). Study 1b (N= 122) compared tearful expressions with sad expressions without tears, demonstrating that the presence of tears elicited stronger donation responses in one-time donation intention (p <.05), one-time donation amount (p=.001), monthly donation intention (p <.05), and monthly donation amount (p <.01). This supports that tears add a unique social signal beyond sadness alone. Study 1c (N= 88) extended the findings to an ecologically valid online setting, simulating real donation web pages, and confirmed the superior persuasive impact of tearful imagery over neutral expressions (one-time donation intention (p =.059), one-time donation amount (p =.010), monthly donation intention (p =.041), and monthly donation amount (p<.05).

Study 2 (n = 88) introduced happy expressions as the experimental condition and tested a dual-path mediation model. The results revealed that tearful images significantly increased donation intention compared to happy faces (p <.01), and this effect was mediated serially by heightened sympathy and increased perceived need (β=.40, 95% CI [.14,.67]). This not only provides empirical evidence for the empathy-altruism hypothesis in charitable decision-making, but also offers new evidence for the social signaling hypothesis of tears.

Study 3 (n = 161) employed a 2 (expression: tearful vs. non-tearful) × 2 (situational valence: positive vs. negative) design to examine contextual moderation. The findings showed that the effect of tears on donation was stronger in negatively framed scenarios (e.g., disaster relief or urgent need) than in positively framed ones (e.g., recovery success or gratitude), F(1, 149) = 4.27, p <.05, η_p² =.03; F(1, 149) = 3.76, p =.054, η_p² =.03. This suggests that the emotional congruency between the stimulus (tears) and the situational valence enhances persuasion, whereas incongruence may undermine the intended emotional appeal due to cognitive dissonance.

Overall, the theoretical significance of these five studies manifests in two respects. On the one hand, we provide new empirical evidence for the empathy-altruism hypothesis; on the other hand, we reveal how tears function as a social signal to facilitate donation intention, and in doing so offer empirical research support for the signal theory of tears. First, we empirically establish that emotional tears can enhance charitable giving, thus extending the functional understanding of tears as social signals. Second, we integrate the signal theory of tears with the empathy-altruism hypothesis, and identify a novel chain mediation —sympathy and perceived need, which explains how tears operate to motivate donation. Third, we identify contextual boundaries that clarify when and why tearful expressions may be effective or counterproductive.

Practically, this research offers actionable insights for charitable organizations and digital fundraising platforms. The strategic use of tearful images, particularly in negative or urgent contexts, may significantly improve campaign outcomes. However, marketers and nonprofit professionals must remain cautious of emotional overuse and ensure congruency between the emotional tone of images and the framing of charitable appeals. Overall, this work deepens theoretical perspectives on the emotional psychology of giving and provides empirically grounded recommendations for enhancing philanthropic engagement.