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Methodology for Conducting the Review

A thorough review of the literature was conducted by using relevant search terms (e.g., women, sex differences, and gender differences AND prosocial behavior, charity, philanthropy, giving, and altruism), across disciplines, and included multiple data bases including: PsycInfo, Applied Science Full Text, Biomed Central, PubMed, Medline, IUPUI Metasearch, GenderWatch, EconLit, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, Expanded Academic ASAP, Social Services Abstracts, Payton Library Philanthropic Studies Index, PsychInfo, Dissertations & Theses. Additional references were selected by examining the references cited in the articles found.

Only empirical research studies are included in this review. To meet the criteria for inclusion, the study needed to contain data on women’s giving and/or data on differences between men and women’s giving behavior. Research on children was excluded from our sample. Similar to Bekker and Wiepking’s (2007) review of the generosity and philanthropy literature, theoretical papers (not reporting empirical data) and studies using children as participants are not reviewed. The final review included 48 empirical studies, 3 dissertations, across 13 disciplines (i.e., economics, social psychology, sociology, psychology, nonprofit management, philanthropic studies, education, social work, finance, marketing, religious studies, women’s studies, and public administration).

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