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Altruistic Responses of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks: Some Evidence from Dictator Games

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Kamas

    (Santa Clara University)

  • Sandy Baum

    (Skidmore College)

  • Anne Preston

    (Haverford College)

Abstract

This paper uses economic experiments to compare altruistic behavior before and immediately after the terrorist attacks. Before September 11 the authors had conducted dictator games in which students were given the option of donating their earnings from the experiment to the American Red Cross. The authors repeated the experiment in late September after the attacks. This paper compares giving before and after the terrorist attacks and evaluates the extent to which altruistic responses before and after the attack differ by gender, major. religious practice and income level. The authors find significant differences in altruistic behavior of women and men. Women donated more than men both before and after the terrorist attacks. In addition, far more women acted as perfect altruists, giving all the money in the experiment to the Red Cross, while far more men acted perfectly selfishly by keeping all the money. Both genders increased giving significantly after the terrorist attacks.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Kamas & Sandy Baum & Anne Preston, 2005. "Altruistic Responses of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks: Some Evidence from Dictator Games," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 551-562, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:31:y:2005:i:4:p:551-562
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    File URL: http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/eej/Archive/Volume31/V31N4P551_562.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-03974756 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Sylvain Baumann, 2017. "Spying Solution In The Framework Of Terrorist Conflicts," Post-Print hal-02949086, HAL.
    3. Valerio Capraro & Roberto Di Paolo & Veronica Pizziol, 2023. "Assessing Large Language Models' ability to predict how humans balance self-interest and the interest of others," Papers 2307.12776, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    4. Fortuna Casoria & Fabio Galeotti & Marie Claire Villeval, 2023. "Trust and social preferences in times of acute health crisis," Working Papers 2304, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    5. Umer, Hamza, 2020. "Revisiting generosity in the dictator game: Experimental evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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