Between joy and sympathy: Smiling and sad recipient faces increase prosocial behavior in the dictator game

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241106
  • In human interactions, the facial expression of a bargaining partner may contain relevant information that affects prosocial decisions. We were interested in whether facial expressions of the recipient in the dictator game influence dictators´ ehavior. To test this, we conducted an online study (n = 106) based on a modified version of a dictator game. The dictators allocated money between themselves and another person (recipient), who had no possibility to respond to the dictator. Importantly, before the allocation decision, the dictator wasIn human interactions, the facial expression of a bargaining partner may contain relevant information that affects prosocial decisions. We were interested in whether facial expressions of the recipient in the dictator game influence dictators´ ehavior. To test this, we conducted an online study (n = 106) based on a modified version of a dictator game. The dictators allocated money between themselves and another person (recipient), who had no possibility to respond to the dictator. Importantly, before the allocation decision, the dictator was presented with the facial expression of the recipient (angry, disgusted, sad, smiling, or neutral). The results showed that dictators sent more money to recipients with sad or smiling facial expressions and less to recipients with angry or disgusted facial expressions compared with a neutral facial expression. Moreover, based on the sequential analysis of the decision and the interaction partner in the preceding trial, we found that decision-making depends upon previous interactions.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Martin WeißORCiD, Grit HeinORCiD, Johannes HewigORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241106
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Medizinische Fakultät / Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie
Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften (Philos., Psycho., Erziehungs- u. Gesell.-Wissensch.) / Institut für Psychologie
Language:English
Parent Title (English):International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Year of Completion:2021
Volume:18
Issue:11
Article Number:6172
Source:International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2021) 18(11):6172. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18116172
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18116172
Dewey Decimal Classification:1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 152 Sinneswahrnehmung, Bewegung, Emotionen, Triebe
Tag:dictator game; emotional influence; facial expression; social decision-making
Release Date:2021/09/10
EU-Project number / Contract (GA) number:823881
OpenAIRE:OpenAIRE
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2021
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International