The power of asking: How communication affects selfishness, empathy, and altruism

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Andreoni, James; Rao, Justin M.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California San Diego; National Bureau of Economic Research; Yahoo! Inc
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.12.008
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 513-520
• 关键词: Altruism; empathy; INEQUALITY; COMMUNICATION

摘要

To understand the pure incentives of altruism, economic laboratory research on humans almost always forbids communication between subjects. In reality, however, altruism usually requires interaction between givers and receivers, which clearly must influence choices. Charities, for example, speak of the power of asking. Indeed, evolutionary theories of altruism are built on human sociality. We experimentally examine communication in which one subject allocates $10 between herself and a receiver, and systematically altered who in the pair could speak. We found that any time the recipient spoke, giving increased asking is powerful. But when only allocators could speak, choices were significantly more selfish than any other condition. When empathy was heightened by putting allocators in the receiver's shoes, giving appeared as if recipients had been able to ask, even when they were silent. We conclude that communication dramatically influences altruistic behavior, and appears to largely work by heightening empathy. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.