Abstract

Employing a two-by-two factorial design that manipulates whether dictator groups are single or mixed-sex and whether procedures are single or double-blind, we examine gender effects in a standard dictator game. No gender effects were found in any of the experimental treatments for the mean or median levels of giving, or for the propensity to give nothing. However, females chose to give away half of their endowments with greater frequency than males in the pooled single-sex treatments.

Highlights

  • Numerous experimental and theoretical studies have examined and analyzed other-regarding versus self-interested behavior (e.g., Bolton and Ockenfels, 2000; Camerer, 2003; Fehr and Schmidt, 1999; Rabin, 1993)

  • Using a binary measure of whether a dictator gave away a positive amount or not as the dependent variable and gender as the independent variable, logit regressions did not yield any significant gender effect in any of these three treatments either

  • Attitudes toward gender in New Zealand appear to resemble those in the United States, our db treatment provides complete anonymity, and in EG, only one subject, a male, gave away more than half of his endowment

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Numerous experimental and theoretical studies have examined and analyzed other-regarding versus self-interested behavior (e.g., Bolton and Ockenfels, 2000; Camerer, 2003; Fehr and Schmidt, 1999; Rabin, 1993). Within the large dictator-game literature, gender has been studied to determine whether one sex is more generous than the other. We intended to identify the source of this discrepancy by means of a two-bytwo factorial design that manipulates whether dictator groups are single or mixed-sex ( ss or ms) and whether procedures are single- or double-blind ( sb or db).. Shih et al (1999) demonstrate that Asian-American women perform better on a mathematics test when their ethnic identity is activated and worse when their gender identity is activated than a control group They argue that the activation of cultural and gender stereotypes is responsible for these results. Neither single- versus mixed-sex groups nor level of anonymity had any impact on either male or female behavior

Experimental Design and Procedures
Results
Discussion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.