An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma
Abstract Societal challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic have the quality of a social dilemma, in that they compel people to choose between acting in their own interests or the interests of a larger collective. Empirical evidence shows that the choices people make in a social dilemma are influence...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22187-z |
| _version_ | 1811304486387318784 |
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| author | Magdalena Rychlowska Job van der Schalk Antony S. R. Manstead |
| author_facet | Magdalena Rychlowska Job van der Schalk Antony S. R. Manstead |
| author_sort | Magdalena Rychlowska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Societal challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic have the quality of a social dilemma, in that they compel people to choose between acting in their own interests or the interests of a larger collective. Empirical evidence shows that the choices people make in a social dilemma are influenced by how this decision is framed. In four studies, we examined how context of an epidemic influences resource allocation decisions in a nested social dilemma task, where participants share resources between themselves, their subgroup, and a larger collective. Participants consistently allocated more resources to the collective in the context of the Ebola epidemic than in the context of a neighborhood improvement project, and these choices were strongly associated with prescriptive social norms. Together, the findings provide an experimental demonstration that the context of a quickly spreading disease encourages people to act more prosocially. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:06:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6643c3dbd2554856adbb11424ac1e6b9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:06:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-6643c3dbd2554856adbb11424ac1e6b92022-12-22T02:55:07ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-11-011211910.1038/s41598-022-22187-zAn epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemmaMagdalena Rychlowska0Job van der Schalk1Antony S. R. Manstead2School of Psychology, Queen’s University BelfastSchool of Psychology, Cardiff UniversitySchool of Psychology, Cardiff UniversityAbstract Societal challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic have the quality of a social dilemma, in that they compel people to choose between acting in their own interests or the interests of a larger collective. Empirical evidence shows that the choices people make in a social dilemma are influenced by how this decision is framed. In four studies, we examined how context of an epidemic influences resource allocation decisions in a nested social dilemma task, where participants share resources between themselves, their subgroup, and a larger collective. Participants consistently allocated more resources to the collective in the context of the Ebola epidemic than in the context of a neighborhood improvement project, and these choices were strongly associated with prescriptive social norms. Together, the findings provide an experimental demonstration that the context of a quickly spreading disease encourages people to act more prosocially.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22187-z |
| spellingShingle | Magdalena Rychlowska Job van der Schalk Antony S. R. Manstead An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma Scientific Reports |
| title | An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma |
| title_full | An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma |
| title_fullStr | An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma |
| title_full_unstemmed | An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma |
| title_short | An epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision-making in an intergroup social dilemma |
| title_sort | epidemic context elicits more prosocial decision making in an intergroup social dilemma |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22187-z |
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