Physical Attractiveness and Altruism in Two Modified Dictator Games. Issue 4 (3rd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bhogal, Manpal Singh; Galbraith, Niall; Manktelow, Ken
• Is Part Of: Basic and applied social psychology. Volume 38:Issue 4(2016)
• Page Start: 212
• Page End: 222
• Publication Date: 2016-07-03
• Subjects: Social psychology -- Periodicals; 302.05
• DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2016.1199382
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-3533

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Several studies find that male individuals are more altruistic toward attractive women, suggesting altruism may serve as a courtship display. Many studies exploring this phenomenon have used vignettes and facial images. We tested the sexual selection hypothesis as an explanation for altruistic behavior, where players played the dictator game with "live" participants. Two studies were conducted (Study 1, n = 212; Study 2, n = 188) where we manipulated stakes and anonymity between participants to explore the relationship between the dictator's allocations and their perceived attractiveness of the recipient. We found no relationship between attractiveness and altruism. Dictators were consistently fair when allocating stakes, irrespective of the recipients' attractiveness.