| Title |
Hyper-altruistic behavior vanishes with high stakes. |
| Authors |
BRAÑAS GARZA, PABLO ERNESTO, JORRAT, DIEGO ANDRÉS, Kovárík, Jaromír , LÓPEZ MARTÍN, MARÍA DEL CARMEN |
| External publication |
No |
| Means |
PLoS ONE |
| Scope |
Article |
| Nature |
Científica |
| JCR Quartile |
2 |
| SJR Quartile |
1 |
| JCR Impact |
3.75200 |
| SJR Impact |
0.85200 |
| Web |
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85113734317&doi=10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0255668&partnerID=40&md5=ffd0f63fd452e6a49c6fa5728b44dd5f |
| Publication date |
25/08/2021 |
| ISI |
000729171700055 |
| Scopus Id |
2-s2.0-85113734317 |
| DOI |
10.1371/journal.pone.0255668 |
| Abstract |
Using an incentivized experiment with statistical power, this paper explores the role of stakes in charitable giving of lottery prizes, where subjects commit to donate a fraction of the prize before they learn the outcome of the lottery. We study three stake levels: 5 (n = 177), 100 (n = 168), and 1,000 (n = 171). Although the donations increase in absolute terms as the stakes increase, subjects decrease the donated fraction of the pie. However, people still share roughly 20% of 1,000, an amount as high as the average monthly salary of people at the age of our subjects. The number of people sharing 50% of the pie is remarkably stable across stakes, but donating the the whole pie-the modal behavior in charity-donation experiments-disappears with stakes. Such hyper-altruistic behavior thus seems to be an artifact of the stakes typically employed in economic and psychological experiments. Our findings point out that sharing with others is a prevalent human feature, but stakes are an important determinant of sharing. Policies promoted via prosocial frames (e.g., stressing the effects of mask-wearing or social distancing on others during the Covid-19 pandemic or environmentally-friendly behaviors on future generations) may thus be miscalibrated if they disregard the stakes at play. |
| Keywords |
altruism; female; gift giving; human; male; psychology; student; young adult; Altruism; Female; Gift Giving; Humans; Male; Students; Young Adult |
| Universidad Loyola members |
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