Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
独裁者游戏中支付1英镑（5英镑）与零支付的意外差异
Paying £1(£5) or nothing in dictator games: unexpected differences
摘要
We conducted an online Dictator Game experiment ( N = 1195) to test three hypotheses about the role of monetary incentives in prosocial behavior. First, we examined whether real incentives of £1 reduce the dispersion of responses compared to hypothetical ones. Surprisingly, we found the opposite: hypothetical responses were less dispersed, with choices clustering around the egalitarian split. This pattern held in a replication ( N = 308) with higher stakes (£5), offering no support for the first hypothesis. Second, we tested whether real incentives—by involving actual monetary consequences—lead to more selfish decisions, as they are expected to reduce socially desirable responses. With £1 stakes, no significant differences emerged across conditions. However, when the stake was increased to £5, participants became more selfish under real incentives, supporting the second hypothesis only when the amount at stake is substantial. Third, we explored whether probabilistic payments trigger differential behavior. At low stakes, probabilistic incentives resembled real ones. But with higher stakes, real and probabilistic outcomes diverged, suggesting participants respond to expected value only when it is meaningful. Finally, in a separate study ( N = 299), we found that many participants facing standard hypothetical-payment instructions still expected real payments. Only explicit phrasing stating that “unfortunately, the money is not real” alleviated this confusion. This result underscores the importance of precise wording in experimental design and potentially explains why hypothetical treatments do not yield dramatically different results compared to real-money treatments.
中文摘要
我们开展了一项在线独裁者博弈实验（样本量N=1195），以检验关于货币激励在亲社会行为中作用的三个假设。首先，我们考察了与假设性激励相比，1英镑的真实激励是否会降低反应离散度。令人意外的是，我们发现了相反的结果：假设性情境下的反应离散度更低，选择集中在平等主义分配方案附近。这一模式在更高赌注（5英镑）的重复实验（样本量N=308）中得以保持，因此第一个假设未获支持。其次，我们检验了真实激励——通过涉及实际货币后果——是否会导致更自私的决策，因为预期这会减少社会期望性反应。在1英镑赌注下，各条件之间未出现显著差异。然而，当赌注增至5英镑时，参与者在真实激励下变得更加自私，这仅在赌注金额较大时支持了第二个假设。第三，我们探讨了概率性支付是否会引发差异化行为。在低赌注下，概率性激励与真实激励相似。但在高赌注下，真实与概率性结果出现分化，表明参与者仅在有意义的预期价值下才会做出反应。最后，在另一项独立研究（样本量N=299）中，我们发现许多面对标准假设性支付说明的参与者仍预期会获得真实支付。只有明确表述“遗憾的是，这笔钱并非真实”才能缓解这种混淆。这一结果凸显了实验设计中措辞精确的重要性，并可能解释为何假设性处理与真实货币处理相比不会产生显著不同的结果。