Public recognition may be key to giving

German researchers found that people are more likely to work toward common goals when well-informed and when they receive public recognition.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Limnology in Plon and Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, found that people valued the recognition as much as money.

The test subjects were given the choice of spending money on a magazine advertisement meant to inform the public about basic rules of climate preservation and the consequences of climate-unfriendly behaviour.

The players, 156 students from Hamburg, made their contributions to the advertisement pool either in public or, every second round, anonymously.

The researchers found there was a payoff for people who invest in climate preservation when doing so also improved their reputation -- "Do good when others can see it."

Copyright 2006 by United Press International