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Gender and altruism in a random sample

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  • Boschini, Anne
  • Dreber, Anna
  • von Essen, Emma
  • Muren, Astri
  • Ranehill, Eva

Abstract

We study gender differences in altruism in a large random sample of the Swedish population using a standard dictator game. Beside a baseline treatment we implement a priming treatment where participants are reminded of their gender, and two treatments with known male and female counterpart respectively. We find suggestive evidence that women are more altruistic than men only in the priming treatment. A post-hoc analysis using data on interviewer gender to explore gender context effects indicates that priming affects behavior only in mixed-gender contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Boschini, Anne & Dreber, Anna & von Essen, Emma & Muren, Astri & Ranehill, Eva, 2018. "Gender and altruism in a random sample," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 72-77.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:77:y:2018:i:c:p:72-77
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2018.09.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan Döring & Jonathan Hall, 2023. "Drought exposure decreases altruism with salient group identities as key moderator," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 13(8), pages 856-861, August.
    2. Boschini, Anne & Dreber, Anna & von Essen, Emma & Muren, Astri & Ranehill, Eva, 2019. "Gender, risk preferences and willingness to compete in a random sample of the Swedish population✰," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Bernd Frick & Clarissa Laura Maria Spiess Bru & Daniel Kaimann, 2023. "Are Women (Really) More Lenient? Gender Differences in Expert Evaluations," Working Papers Dissertations 106, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    4. Alain Cohn & Michel André Maréchal, 2016. "Priming in economics," ECON - Working Papers 226, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    5. Yi-Fang Luo & Shu-Ching Yang & Shih-Chieh Hung & Kun-Yi Chou, 2022. "Exploring the Impacts of Preventative Health Behaviors with Respect to COVID-19: An Altruistic Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-14, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender differences; Random sample; Dictator game; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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