Are individuals more generous in loss contexts?

Abstract

Using a loss-framed variant of the dictator game, we investigate how dictators split a loss between themselves and a recipient. In a loss context, we try to disentangle the effects of a more self-oriented preference from that of a higher social responsibility. We find that in the loss context, individuals offer more, and women offer more than men. This could be attributed to a more responsible response to a powerless recipient in a loss context.

Prosocial Gains and Losses: Modulations of Human Social Decision-Making by Loss-Gain Context

“…First, previous studies have revealed that loss contexts often enhance human generosity (Baquero et al, 2013;Yin et al, 2017;Thunström, 2019;Cochard et al, 2020) but usually reduce human honesty (Van Yperen et al, 2011;Grolleau et al, 2014Grolleau et al, , 2016Schindler and Pfattheicher, 2017;Sun et al, 2017;Markiewicz and Czupryna, 2020;Markiewicz and Gawryluk, 2020). The opposite effects of losses on the two distinct social preferences could be attributed to the reason that human generosity mainly reflects intuitive responses, whereas human honesty often requires cognitive control.…”

“…Notably, the effect of the loss context on allocation behavior is mediated by enhanced fairness motivations and attenuated self-interest motives; that is, fairness concerns dominate over self-interest in the loss context (Leliveld et al, 2009). Moreover, people who act as dictators in the dictator game are intrinsically motivated to share more money with recipients in a loss domain than in a gain domain, thereby demonstrating a higher level of generosity in the loss context (Baquero et al, 2013;Yin et al, 2017;Thunström, 2019;Cochard et al, 2020). Last, people are less likely to harm others by exclusion (van Beest et al, 2003(van Beest et al, , 2005 and are more cooperative (De Dreu et al, 1992) in the loss context than in the gain context.…”

It Does (Not) Get Better: Expected Income Violation and Altruism

“…They find evidence of greater altruism in the loss domain. Cochard et al (2020) further show that this effect is mainly driven by women. The given interpretation is that participants follow a do-no-harm principle: they are reluctant to impose losses to others.…”

“…Self-commitment to act altruistically seems to yield in front of the dis-utility linked to incurring private losses. This adds to the literature studying the role of reference in other regarding preference (e.g., Thunstrom, 2019;Boun My et al, 2018;Cochard et al, 2020;Fiedler and Hillenbrand, 2020).…”

“…In contrast, we show that the gap between expected and realized income experienced before the decision to share impacts participants' willingness to share. Thunstrom (2019) and Cochard et al (2020) study the behavior of participants in dictator games in which the dictator shares either losses or gains. They find evidence of greater altruism in the loss domain.…”