IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jobhdp/v128y2015icp61-73.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Noblesse oblige emerges (with time): Power enhances intergenerational beneficence

Author

Listed:
  • Tost, Leigh Plunkett
  • Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A.
  • Johnson, Hana Huang

Abstract

Across four experiments, we examine how the experience of power affects intergenerational decision-making. We argue, and empirically demonstrate, that the experience of power enhances intergenerational beneficence. This effect emerges because the experience of power in intergenerational dilemmas prompts a sense of social responsibility among powerholders. In particular, the experience of power in intergenerational contexts leads people to feel an obligation to look out for the long-term interests of others, which in turn enhances generosity to future others. Thus, the positive effect of power on intergenerational beneficence is mediated by a sense of responsibility to look after others’ long-term interests.

Suggested Citation

  • Tost, Leigh Plunkett & Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A. & Johnson, Hana Huang, 2015. "Noblesse oblige emerges (with time): Power enhances intergenerational beneficence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 61-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:128:y:2015:i:c:p:61-73
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.03.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597815000205
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.obhdp.2015.03.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kahneman, Daniel & Knetsch, Jack L & Thaler, Richard H, 1986. "Fairness and the Assumptions of Economics," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 285-300, October.
    2. Garbinsky, Emily N. & Klesse, Anne-Kathrin & Aaker, Jennifer, 2014. "Money in the Bank: Feeling Powerful Increases Saving," Research Papers 2146, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:4:y:2009:i:4:p:280-286 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Forsythe Robert & Horowitz Joel L. & Savin N. E. & Sefton Martin, 1994. "Fairness in Simple Bargaining Experiments," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 347-369, May.
    5. Tjosvold, Dean, 1985. "Power and social context in superior-subordinate interaction," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 281-293, June.
    6. Emily N. Garbinsky & Anne-Kathrin Klesse & Jennifer Aaker, 2014. "Money in the Bank: Feeling Powerful Increases Saving," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(3), pages 610-623.
    7. Colin F. Camerer & Richard H. Thaler, 1995. "Anomalies: Ultimatums, Dictators and Manners," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 209-219, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David B. Zoogah & Richard Bawulenbeug Zoogah, 2020. "Benevolence and Negative Deviant Behavior in Africa: The Moderating Role of Centralization," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(4), pages 783-813, February.
    2. McCarter, Matthew W. & Wade-Benzoni, Kimberly A. & Kamal, Darcy K. Fudge & Bang, H. Min & Hyde, Steven J. & Maredia, Reshma, 2020. "Models of intragroup conflict in management: A literature review," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 925-946.
    3. Julia Bogacki & Peter Letmathe, 2021. "Representatives of future generations as promoters of sustainability in corporate decision processes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 237-251, January.
    4. Hafenbrack, Andrew C. & Cameron, Lindsey D. & Spreitzer, Gretchen M. & Zhang, Chen & Noval, Laura J. & Shaffakat, Samah, 2020. "Helping People by Being in the Present: Mindfulness Increases Prosocial Behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 21-38.
    5. Ong, Madeline & Mayer, David M. & Tost, Leigh P. & Wellman, Ned, 2018. "When corporate social responsibility motivates employee citizenship behavior: The sensitizing role of task significance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 44-59.
    6. Valentina Bosetti & Francis Dennig & Ning Liu & Massimo Tavoni & Elke U. Weber, 2022. "Forward-Looking Belief Elicitation Enhances Intergenerational Beneficence," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(4), pages 743-761, April.
    7. Foulk, Trevor A. & Venkataramani, Vijaya & Cao, Rujiao & Krishnan, Satish, 2022. "Thinking outside the box helps build social connections: The role of creative mindsets in reducing daily rudeness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    8. Ivan Montiel & Peter Jack Gallo & Raquel Antolin-Lopez, 2020. "What on Earth Should Managers Learn About Corporate Sustainability? A Threshold Concept Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 857-880, April.
    9. Tost, Leigh Plunkett & Johnson, Hana Huang, 2019. "The prosocial side of power: How structural power over subordinates can promote social responsibility," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 25-46.
    10. Williams, Melissa J. & Lopiano, Gabrielle & Heller, Daniel, 2022. "When the boss steps up: Workplace power, task responsibility, and engagement with unpleasant tasks," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    11. Yu, Andrew & Hays, Nicholas A. & Zhao, Emma Y., 2019. "Development of a bipartite measure of social hierarchy: The perceived power and perceived status scales," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 84-104.
    12. Li Yan & Hean Tat Keh & Xiaoyu Wang, 2021. "Powering Sustainable Consumption: The Roles of Green Consumption Values and Power Distance Belief," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 499-516, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Larney, Andrea & Rotella, Amanda & Barclay, Pat, 2019. "Stake size effects in ultimatum game and dictator game offers: A meta-analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 61-72.
    2. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri, 2008. "What's in a name? Anonymity and social distance in dictator and ultimatum games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-35, October.
    3. Bruttel, Lisa & Stolley, Florian, 2020. "Getting a yes. An experiment on the power of asking," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    4. Guala, Francesco & Mittone, Luigi, 2010. "Paradigmatic experiments: The Dictator Game," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 578-584, October.
    5. Antonios Avgeris & Achilleas Kontogeorgos & Panagiota Sergaki, 2018. "The 'Reciprocity' Game: A theoretical basis for measuring reciprocity in human socio-economic interactions," International Journal of Social Sciences, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences, vol. 7(1), pages 13-33, March.
    6. Lora R. Todorova & Bodo Vogt, 2012. "Are Behavioral Choices in the Ultimatum and Investment Games Strategic?," FEMM Working Papers 120021, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    7. Bohnet, Iris & Frey, Bruno S., 1999. "The sound of silence in prisoner's dilemma and dictator games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 43-57, January.
    8. Murnighan, J. Keith & Wang, Long, 2016. "The social world as an experimental game," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 80-94.
    9. Damon Tomlin, 2015. "Rational Constraints and the Evolution of Fairness in the Ultimatum Game," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Berna Güroğlu & Geert-Jan Will & Eveline A Crone, 2014. "Neural Correlates of Advantageous and Disadvantageous Inequity in Sharing Decisions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-9, September.
    11. Burks, Stephen V. & Carpenter, Jeffrey P. & Verhoogen, Eric, 2003. "Playing both roles in the trust game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 195-216, June.
    12. Seema Kacker & Tin Aung & Dominic Montagu & David Bishai, 2021. "Providers preferences towards greater patient health benefit is associated with higher quality of care," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 271-294, September.
    13. Emin Karagözoğlu & Elif Tosun, 2022. "Endogenous Game Choice and Giving Behavior in Distribution Games," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-32, November.
    14. Antonides, Gerrit & Kroft, Maaike, 2005. "Fairness judgments in household decision making," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 902-913, December.
    15. Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 315-372, June.
    16. Ben-Ner, Avner & Putterman, Louis & Kong, Fanmin & Magan, Dan, 2004. "Reciprocity in a two-part dictator game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 333-352, March.
    17. Handgraaf, Michel J.J. & Dijk, Eric van & Wilke, Henk A.M. & Vermunt, Riel C., 2004. "Evaluability of outcomes in ultimatum bargaining," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 95(1), pages 97-106, September.
    18. Brandts, Jordi & Sola, Carles, 2001. "Reference Points and Negative Reciprocity in Simple Sequential Games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 138-157, August.
    19. Jeffrey P. Carpenter, 2005. "Endogenous Social Preferences," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 37(1), pages 63-84, March.
    20. Ariel Knafo & Salomon Israel & Ariel Darvasi & Rachel Bachner-Melman & Florina Uzefovsky & Lior Cohen & Esti Feldman & Elad Lerer & Efrat Laiba & Yael Raz & Lubov Nemanov & Inga Gritsenko & Christian , 2007. "Individual Differences in Allocation of Funds in the Dictator Game Associated with Length of the Arginine Vasopressin 1a Receptor (AVPR1a) RS3 Promoter-region and Correlation between RS3 Length and Hi," Discussion Paper Series dp457, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:128:y:2015:i:c:p:61-73. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/obhdp .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.