Biases in thinking
Identifiable victim effect
Also called Singularity effect
People respond more to one named person in need than to a large number described as a statistic.
A single story with a face and a name moves people more than a figure in the thousands. Adding more people to the story can even reduce how much they care.
In research and advocacy, one well-chosen user story can win support that a chart can't. Keep the numbers beside it, so the story isn't mistaken for the whole picture.
In practice
A charity page showing one child's story tends to raise more than the same page reporting how many children the charity helps.
Common mistake
Letting one vivid case drive a decision about many people. The story should illustrate the data, not replace it.
Where it comes from
Thomas Schelling described the idea in 1968. Tehila Kogut and Ilana Ritov named the singularity effect in 2005, and Deborah Small, George Loewenstein and Paul Slovic tested it with charity appeals in 2007.