Is Altruism Sensitive to Scope? The Role of Tangibility
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 108,
May 2018
(pp. 143-47)
Abstract
Prior work has shown that people appear insensitive to the scope of their altruistic acts and prosocial behavior. While they respond positively when their choices lead to increasing rewards for themselves, people do not change their behavior when the outcomes for others increase. We demonstrate that the scope sensitivity of altruism depends critically on its tangibility, and suggest that this relationship operates through mental accounting. We show that by increasing the level of tangibility, people can become just as sensitive to changes in the size of rewards for others as if they were earning the rewards themselves.Citation
Imas, Alex, and George Loewenstein. 2018. "Is Altruism Sensitive to Scope? The Role of Tangibility." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 108: 143-47. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20181094Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D64 Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers