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Return of the lost letter: Experimental framing does not enhance altruism in an everyday context

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  • Fessler, Daniel M.T.

Abstract

Debate surrounds interpretation of prosocial behavior in experimental games. Skeptics of the thesis that evolution produced a propensity for noncontingent altruism speculate that such results reflect the presence of information suggesting reputational consequences, including awareness that one is participating in an experiment. To examine the effects on prosocial behavior of awareness that research is being conducted, return rates were measured on 'lost' envelopes, some of which carried the message that they were dropped as part of an investigation. Return rates were not enhanced by such messages, indicating that awareness that one is in an experiment does not increase prosocial behavior.

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  • Fessler, Daniel M.T., 2009. "Return of the lost letter: Experimental framing does not enhance altruism in an everyday context," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 575-578, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:71:y:2009:i:2:p:575-578
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas Bardsley, 2008. "Dictator game giving: altruism or artefact?," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 11(2), pages 122-133, June.
    2. Steven D. Levitt & John A. List, 2007. "What Do Laboratory Experiments Measuring Social Preferences Reveal About the Real World?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 153-174, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Brosnan, Sarah F., 2011. "An evolutionary perspective on morality," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 23-30, January.
    2. Jeffrey Winking, 2014. "Anonymity versus Privacy in the Dictator Game: Revealing Donor Decisions to Recipients Does Not Substantially Impact Donor Behavior," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Daniel Nettle & Agathe Colléony & Maria Cockerill, 2011. "Variation in Cooperative Behaviour within a Single City," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-8, October.
    4. Gweneth Leigh & Andrew Leigh, 2018. "The Misaddressed Letter Experiment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(21), pages 1527-1530, December.

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