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.
Highlights
It is widely accepted that environmental information we are exposed to “in the moment” influences our decisions [1]
In economic decision-making, for example, witnessing the suffering and vulnerability of others can induce affective and empathic reactions that lead to increased altruistic, or other-regarding, behaviour that is antithetical to neoclassical models of financial self-interest [2]
As per methods used in the repeated triadic design [18], we modelled each economic decision independently, but conditioned IGgive on amounts given in the TDG to separate trust-based decisions from other-regarding behaviour, and IGexpect to account for the expected return in the IG
Summary
It is widely accepted that environmental information we are exposed to “in the moment” influences our decisions [1]. The present research was designed to extend and improve upon past research by using a triadic game design to: i) test whether the effects of priming themes of suffering and vulnerability are restricted to other-regarding economic outcomes, or extend to trust-based and reciprocated decisions; ii) explore whether results are consistent across different types of altruistic giving task; and iii) explore the moderating effects of dispositional (cognitive and affective) empathy and trust. Participants received exposure to pictures depicting suffering and vulnerability (vs neutral pictures), framed as a memory test, before taking part in a triad of economic games with a stranger, designed to separate out altruistic, trust-based, and reciprocated decision-making [19]. We explored whether dispositional empathy and trust moderated the effects of exposure to pictures depicting suffering and vulnerability on economic behaviour
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