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Published on: July 27, 2018
Generosity and cooperation across the life span: A lab-in-the-field study
Angelo Romano1, Stefania Bortolotti1, Wilhelm Hofmann2
1Experimental Economics Group, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
Psychology and Aging
|March 11, 2021
Summary
Generosity and cooperation change across the lifespan, with age influencing decisions between generations. Older adults show more generosity towards younger and older partners, while younger adults cooperate more with older partners.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Sociology
Background:
- Prosociality, including generosity and cooperation, is fundamental to societal functioning.
- Understanding how prosocial behavior changes across the lifespan is crucial given increasing life expectancy and societal demands.
- Intergenerational interactions are increasingly important for social cohesion and support systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine generosity and cooperation between different age groups.
- To investigate how age influences prosocial behavior based on the age of an unknown partner.
- To understand the dynamics of intergenerational prosociality.
Main Methods:
- A lab-in-the-field experiment with 359 participants aged 18-90.
- Utilized the dictator game to measure generosity and the prisoner's dilemma game to measure cooperation.
- Participants made decisions and stated expectations regarding unknown partners of varying ages.
Main Results:
- Individuals used partner age to inform their prosocial behavior.
- Older adults exhibited greater generosity towards younger and older partners compared to middle-aged partners.
- Younger adults showed increased cooperation with middle-aged and older partners compared to same-aged partners.
- All age groups expected less cooperation from younger partners, but older adults were more cooperative with young partners than young adults were.
Conclusions:
- Age is a significant factor in modulating prosocial behavior in intergenerational contexts.
- Generosity and cooperation patterns differ across the lifespan and are influenced by the age of interaction partners.
- Findings have implications for theories of human generosity and cooperation, particularly across different age cohorts.
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