Social norms of sharing in high school: Teen giving in the dictator game

Catherine Eckel, Philip Grossman, Cathleen A. Johnson, Angela de Oliveira, Christian Rojas and Rick Wilson

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2011, vol. 80, issue 3, 603-612

Abstract: We conduct a study of altruistic behavior among high school students using the dictator game. We find a much stronger norm of equal splitting than previously observed in the typical university student population, with almost 45% of high school subjects choosing an equal split of the endowment. Tests indicate that this difference is not due to factors traditionally considered in the analysis of these games, such as demographics. Rather, we find that dictators who score higher on a Social Generosity measure are much more likely to conform to the 50/50 norm. Additionally, high school students who score in the high range of an Independence measure send significantly less to recipients.

Keywords: Dictator game; High school; Altruism; Social norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:80:y:2011:i:3:p:603-612

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.05.017

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