When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need
Growing evidence has highlighted the importance of social norms in promoting prosocial behaviors in economic games. Specifically, individual differences in norm adherence—captured by the politeness aspect of Big Five agreeableness—has been found to predict fair allocations of wealth to one’s partner...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
SAGE
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38794/ |
| _version_ | 1848795692195119104 |
|---|---|
| author | Zhao, Kun Ferguson, Eamonn Smillie, Luke D. |
| author_facet | Zhao, Kun Ferguson, Eamonn Smillie, Luke D. |
| author_sort | Zhao, Kun |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Growing evidence has highlighted the importance of social norms in promoting prosocial behaviors in economic games. Specifically, individual differences in norm adherence—captured by the politeness aspect of Big Five agreeableness—has been found to predict fair allocations of wealth to one’s partner in the dictator game. Yet most studies have used neutrally-framed paradigms, where players may default to norms of equality in the absence of contextual cues. In this study (N = 707), we examined prosocial personality traits and dictator allocations under salient real-world norms of equity and need. Extending on previous research, we found that—in addition to politeness—the compassion aspect of agreeableness predicted greater allocations of wealth when they were embedded in real-world norms. These results represent an important step in understanding the real-world implications of laboratory-based research, demonstrating the importance of both normative context and prosocial traits. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:36:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38794 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:36:07Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | SAGE |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-387942020-05-04T18:29:45Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38794/ When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need Zhao, Kun Ferguson, Eamonn Smillie, Luke D. Growing evidence has highlighted the importance of social norms in promoting prosocial behaviors in economic games. Specifically, individual differences in norm adherence—captured by the politeness aspect of Big Five agreeableness—has been found to predict fair allocations of wealth to one’s partner in the dictator game. Yet most studies have used neutrally-framed paradigms, where players may default to norms of equality in the absence of contextual cues. In this study (N = 707), we examined prosocial personality traits and dictator allocations under salient real-world norms of equity and need. Extending on previous research, we found that—in addition to politeness—the compassion aspect of agreeableness predicted greater allocations of wealth when they were embedded in real-world norms. These results represent an important step in understanding the real-world implications of laboratory-based research, demonstrating the importance of both normative context and prosocial traits. SAGE 2017-01-24 Article PeerReviewed Zhao, Kun, Ferguson, Eamonn and Smillie, Luke D. (2017) When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need. Social Psychological & Personality Science, 8 (8). pp. 847-857. ISSN 1948-5514 dictator game; social norms; politeness; compassion; agreeableness http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1948550616683018 doi:10.1177/1948550616683018 doi:10.1177/1948550616683018 |
| spellingShingle | dictator game; social norms; politeness; compassion; agreeableness Zhao, Kun Ferguson, Eamonn Smillie, Luke D. When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| title | When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| title_full | When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| title_fullStr | When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| title_full_unstemmed | When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| title_short | When fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| title_sort | when fair is not equal: compassion and politeness predict allocations of wealth under different norms of equity and need |
| topic | dictator game; social norms; politeness; compassion; agreeableness |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38794/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38794/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38794/ |