This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta.

The holiday season is a time of giving to our friends and loved ones,

but also the strangers in the form of donations or charity.

On this week's episode, we'll explore the psychology of giving.

We'll look at what motivates us to give to charities.

Once they see that there's a solicitor at the door, they say,

Oh my God, I wish I would have stayed on the couch watching the football game.

Why it's okay to be a regifter and why sometimes,

lying to small children can be a gift.

Fair point, but I just think you've totally lost our 8 and under-demo-grabber.

Finally, well-known philanthropist Adam Cole is back.

He's going to give us the gift of music and tie the episode together with a song.

Inspired by those really cheesy Christmas specials in which children dance around

in brightly colored sweaters.

Lots of fast-make charitable donations over the holiday season.

Maybe you write a few checks. Maybe you donate online.

Or maybe you get asked directly at a shopping mall or the grocery store.

But what motivates you to give and is a change with a situation?

One of our producers Maggie Penman and our new assistant Max Nestrak

went to investigate.

So Max and I went to the giant in Silver Spring, Maryland.

It's a big suburban grocery store very busy on a Saturday afternoon.

...