Self-serving reward and punishment: evidence from the laboratory.

ABSTRACT: Reward for altruism and punishment for selfishness are crucial components for the maintenance of society. Past studies have provided strong evidence that people are willing to incur costs to punish selfish behaviors and to reward altruistic behaviors, but how their willingness to do so depends on their relationship with the individuals conducting the anti-social or pro-social behaviors is much less explored. To probe into this question, we devised a three-stage experiment that combined a revised dictator game and third-party reward or punishment. We employed two payoff frameworks, alignment and conflict, and analyzed how third-party's willingness to reward and punish differed when their interests were either aligned or in conflict with the first-party under observation. We found that due t

SUBMITTER: Chen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10460402 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature