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Altruism and anonymity: A behavioral analysis.

Matthew L Locey1, Howard Rachlin2

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Anonymity impacts altruism. Observing recipients increased generosity, while anonymity decreased it, yet significant altruism persisted without guaranteed reciprocation.

Keywords:
AltruismAnonymityDelay discountingHypothetical rewardsSocial discountingSocial distance

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Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics

Background:

  • Altruism, or selfless concern for others, is a complex behavior.
  • Social discounting describes how the value of rewards decreases with social distance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of anonymity on altruistic behavior using a social discounting task.
  • To compare social discount rates across conditions of anonymity, observation, and standard social interaction.

Main Methods:

  • A social discounting task with hypothetical rewards was administered to three groups: Anonymous, Observed, and Standard.
  • Social discounting was measured across seven levels of social distance.
  • Hyperbolic functions were used to model social discount rates.

Main Results:

  • Social discount rates in all groups were accurately modeled by hyperbolic functions.
  • Participants in the Observed group exhibited greater altruism (willingness to forgo money) than in the Anonymous or Standard groups.
  • While anonymity reduced altruism compared to observation, significant altruistic behavior remained even without the prospect of reciprocation.

Conclusions:

  • Anonymity significantly influences altruistic behavior, with observation enhancing it.
  • The findings suggest that altruism is not solely driven by the potential for reciprocal benefits.
  • Social discounting provides a quantifiable measure for understanding the value placed on others' well-being at varying social distances.