Recalling past experiences of resource scarcity reduces children’s generosity

• In Event: Cooperation, Generosity, and Self-interest: New insights from economic games

Abstract

Does having less or more than what one needs affect one’s generosity? Questions surrounding how resource access may influence behavior are particularly pressing given the extreme levels of wealth inequality in the United States. In adults, scarcity or abundance have been operationalized using enduring factors like social class (e.g., Piff et al., 2010) or experimentally induced through techniques such as recalling past events (Roux, Goldsmith, & Bonezzi, 2015), with conflicting findings regarding how resource access affects behavior (Andreoni et al., 2021; Piff et al., 2010). Although children also experience differences in resource access, few studies have examined how resource access influences children’s generosity (Huppert, Shaw, & Decety, 2020), and we are aware of none that have used narrative recall-based methods to do so.

In our pre-registered study (https://aspredicted.org/blind.php?x=WQV_7PN), we predicted that children would share fewer tokens after recalling scarcity than after recalling abundance. Our participants (n = 146) included a diverse sample of 6—8-year-olds. A pseudo-randomized procedure assigned participants to one of two between-subjects conditions (Scarce; Abundant). We explained that participants would have the opportunity to get tokens, which would ultimately be exchanged for prizes. More tokens would yield “better prizes.” Then, participants recalled a past experience when they had less (Scarce) or more (Abundant) than enough of something they needed (e.g., snacks). Using five-point scales (administered in counter-balanced order), participants rated how much they had of that item and how they felt about how much they had (Emotion; “very sad” to “very happy”). Afterwards, participants recalled these experiences again before receiving 10 tokens and completing a Dictator Game (Benenson et al., 2007). While the experimenter looked away, participants gave away as few or many of their tokens (0 to 10) to an anonymous child who was explained as wanting tokens but unable to participate then.

We ran linear models with condition as the key predictor and age (in months), rating task order, and gender as covariates. Participants in the Scarce condition assigned lower (i.e., sadder) Emotion (B = -1.32, SE = .16, p < .001; Figure 1) ratings than participants in the Abundant condition. As we predicted, and of key importance, the effect of condition on Dictator Game giving was significant (B = -.95, SE = .34, p = .006; Figure 2): Scarce participants (M = 2.76, SD = 2.24) shared fewer tokens than Abundant participants (M = 3.74, SD = 2.08). Additionally, the effects of age (B =.05, SE = .02, p = .002), and gender (B = .98, SE = .34, p = .005) were significant; older children and girls shared more.

Our results indicate that recalling one’s own past experiences of resource access creates distinct behavioral consequences. Remembering a time of “having less” in the past inhibits generosity in the present; it may encourage a strategy of conserving, rather than parting with, one’s resources. Evoking different resource states using a recall task poses minimal risk and is viable for research with children. Future work may explore how recalling scarcity in others affects generosity.

Authors

• Richard E Ahl, Boston College
  Presenting Author

• Emily Arnott, Boston College Cooperation Lab

• Cory Hayford Easton

• Elizabeth Easton McAfee, Grady Trauma Project

• Dorsa Amir, Boston College

• Katherine McAuliffe, Boston College