Keeping others in our mind or in our heart? Distribution games under cognitive load
(2014) In Working Papers in Economics- Abstract
- Abstract in Undetermined
It has recently been argued that giving is spontaneous while greed is calculated (Rand et al. 2012). If greed is calculated we would expect that cognitive load, which is assumed to reduce the influence of cognitive processes, should affect greed. In this paper we study both charitable giving and the behavior of dictators under high and low cognitive load, to test if greed is affected by the load. In the dictator games we use both a give frame, where the dictators are given an amount that they may share with a partner, and a take frame, where dictators may take from an amount initially allocated to the partner. The results show consistently that the behavioral effect in terms of allocated money of the induced... (More) - Abstract in Undetermined
It has recently been argued that giving is spontaneous while greed is calculated (Rand et al. 2012). If greed is calculated we would expect that cognitive load, which is assumed to reduce the influence of cognitive processes, should affect greed. In this paper we study both charitable giving and the behavior of dictators under high and low cognitive load, to test if greed is affected by the load. In the dictator games we use both a give frame, where the dictators are given an amount that they may share with a partner, and a take frame, where dictators may take from an amount initially allocated to the partner. The results show consistently that the behavioral effect in terms of allocated money of the induced load is small if at all existent. At the same time, follow-up questions indicate that the subjects’ decisions are more driven by their feelings and less driven by their thoughts under cognitive load. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4815373
- author
- Hauge, KarenEvelyn ; Brekke, KejllArne ; Johansson, Lars-Olof ; Johansson-Stenman, Olof and Svedsäter, Henrik
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Book/Report
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- cognitive load, dictator games, social preferences, pro-social behavior, altruism
- in
- Working Papers in Economics
- pages
- 32 pages
- publisher
- University of Gothenburg
- ISSN
- 1403-2465
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 96b0f78b-4b99-448d-9e33-d6d2836eb111 (old id 4815373)
- alternative location
- http://hdl.handle.net/2077/36279
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 12:59:35
- date last changed
- 2021-03-22 13:11:12
@techreport{96b0f78b-4b99-448d-9e33-d6d2836eb111, abstract = {{Abstract in Undetermined<br/>It has recently been argued that giving is spontaneous while greed is calculated (Rand et al. 2012). If greed is calculated we would expect that cognitive load, which is assumed to reduce the influence of cognitive processes, should affect greed. In this paper we study both charitable giving and the behavior of dictators under high and low cognitive load, to test if greed is affected by the load. In the dictator games we use both a give frame, where the dictators are given an amount that they may share with a partner, and a take frame, where dictators may take from an amount initially allocated to the partner. The results show consistently that the behavioral effect in terms of allocated money of the induced load is small if at all existent. At the same time, follow-up questions indicate that the subjects’ decisions are more driven by their feelings and less driven by their thoughts under cognitive load.}}, author = {{Hauge, KarenEvelyn and Brekke, KejllArne and Johansson, Lars-Olof and Johansson-Stenman, Olof and Svedsäter, Henrik}}, institution = {{University of Gothenburg}}, issn = {{1403-2465}}, keywords = {{cognitive load; dictator games; social preferences; pro-social behavior; altruism}}, language = {{eng}}, series = {{Working Papers in Economics}}, title = {{Keeping others in our mind or in our heart? Distribution games under cognitive load}}, url = {{http://hdl.handle.net/2077/36279}}, year = {{2014}}, }