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Altruism, Fast and Slow? Evidence from a Meta-Analysis and a New Experiment

Author

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  • Hanna Fromell

    (Department of Economics, Econometrics, and Finance, University of Groningen)

  • Daniele Nosenzo

    (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) and School of Economics, University of Nottingham)

  • Trudy Owens

    (University of Nottingham)

Abstract

Can we use the lens of dual-system theories to explain altruistic behavior? In recent years this question has attracted the interest of both economists and psychologists. We contribute to this emerging literature, by reporting both the results of a meta-study of the literature and a new experiment. Our meta-study is based on 19 experimental studies conducted with nearly 11,000 subjects. We show that the overall effect of manipulating cognitive resources to promote the "intuitive" system at the expense of the 'deliberative' system is very close to zero. We argue that this null result could be because the interventions used in the existing literature to manipulate cognitive resources are vulnerable to the presence of heterogeneity in the direction of the effect of the intervention. We design a new experiment that is not vulnerable to this potential heterogeneity. We still fail to find support for the notion that altruistic choices are the result of a conflict between the intuitive and deliberative systems. Taken together, the findings of our meta-study and the new experiment offer little support for dual-system theories of altruistic behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Hanna Fromell & Daniele Nosenzo & Trudy Owens, 2018. "Altruism, Fast and Slow? Evidence from a Meta-Analysis and a New Experiment," Discussion Papers 2018-13, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    • Handle: RePEc:not:notcdx:2018-13
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    4. Umer, Hamza & Kurosaki, Takashi & Iwasaki, Ichiro, 2022. "Unearned Endowment and Charity Recipient Lead to Higher Donations: A Meta-Analysis of the Dictator Game Lab Experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Amanda Kvarven & Eirik Strømland & Conny Wollbrant & David Andersson & Magnus Johannesson & Gustav Tinghög & Daniel Västfjäll & Kristian Ove R. Myrseth, 2020. "The intuitive cooperation hypothesis revisited: a meta-analytic examination of effect size and between-study heterogeneity," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 6(1), pages 26-42, June.
    6. Castillo, Marco & Dickinson, David L., 2022. "Sleep restriction increases coordination failure," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 358-370.
    7. Strømland, Eirik & Torsvik, Gaute, 2019. "Intuitive Prosociality: Heterogeneous Treatment Effects or False Positive?," OSF Preprints hrx2y, Center for Open Science.
    8. Emily M Thornton & Lara B Aknin, 2020. "Assessing the validity of the Self versus other interest implicit association test," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, June.
    9. Marc Wyszynski & Adele Diederich & Ilana Ritov, 2020. "Gamble for the needy! Does identifiability enhances donation?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, June.
    10. repec:cup:judgdm:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:50-69 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Manja Gärtner & David Andersson & Daniel Västfjäll & Gustav Tinghög, 2022. "Affect and prosocial behavior: The role of decision mode and individual processing style," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, January.
    12. Arcadio de Jesús Cardona-Isaza & Remedios González Barrón & Inmaculada Montoya-Castilla, 2023. "Empathy and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescent Offenders: The Mediating Role of Rational Decisions," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    13. Hagit Sabato & Tehila Kogut, 2021. "Happy to help—if it’s not too sad: The effect of mood on helping identifiable and unidentifiable victims," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-15, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    altruism; giving; dictator game; dual-system model; intuition; deliberation; selfcontrol; willpower; depletion; Stroop task;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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