Powell, P.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-1169-3431, Wills, O., Reynolds, G. et al. (2 more authors) (2018) The effects of exposure to images of others' suffering and vulnerability on altruistic, trust-based, and reciprocated economic decision-making. PLoS ONE, 13 (3). e0194569. ISSN 1932-6203
Abstract
In this paper we explored the effects of exposure to images of the suffering and vulnerability of others on altruistic, trust-based, and reciprocated incentivized economic decisions, accounting for differences in participants’ dispositional empathy and reported in-group trust for their recipient(s). This was done using a pictorial priming task, framed as a memory test, and a triadic economic game design. Using the largest experimental sample to date to explore this issue, our integrated analysis of two online experiments (total N = 519), found statistically consistent evidence that exposure to images of suffering and vulnerability (vs. neutral images) increased altruistic in-group giving as measured by the “triple dictator game”, and that the manipulation was significantly more effective in those who reported lower trust for their recipients. The experimental manipulation also significantly increased altruistic giving in the standard “dictator game” and trust-based giving in the “investment game”, but only in those who were lower in in-group trust and also high in affective or cognitive empathy. Complementary qualitative evidence revealed the strongest motivations associated with increased giving in the experimental condition were greater assumed reciprocation and a lower aversion to risk. However, no consistent effects of the experimental manipulation on participants’ reciprocated decisions were observed. These findings suggest that, as well as altruistic decision-making in the “triple dictator game”, collaboratively witnessing the suffering of others may heighten trust-based in-group giving in the “investment game” for some people, but the effects are heterogeneous and sensitive to context.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 Powell et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | Experimental economics; Game theory; Dictator game; Decision making; Economics; Emotions; Altruistic behavior; Payment |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Economics (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2018 14:10 |
Last Modified: | 12 Apr 2024 11:17 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0194569 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:128483 |