Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment
Society often ascribes negative stereotypes to people experiencing homelessness. However, people experiencing homelessness have been found to display highly nuanced social behaviors. We employ a field dictator game to examine prosocial behavior among 173 unhoused individuals in Nashville, TN. We tes...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario
2024-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal on Homelessness |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/16987 |
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| author | Mary-Catherine Anderson Ashley Hazel Jessica Perkins Zack Almquist |
| author_facet | Mary-Catherine Anderson Ashley Hazel Jessica Perkins Zack Almquist |
| author_sort | Mary-Catherine Anderson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Society often ascribes negative stereotypes to people experiencing homelessness. However, people experiencing homelessness have been found to display highly nuanced social behaviors. We employ a field dictator game to examine prosocial behavior among 173 unhoused individuals in Nashville, TN. We test whether an unhoused population displays ingroup bias, wherein they are more generous toward other people experiencing homelessness (the hypothesized ingroup) than people not experiencing homelessness (the hypothesized out-group). Additionally, we explore relationships between sociodemographic and personal characteristics (social support, perceptions of deservedness/generosity) and dictator game behavior. We did not observe ingroup bias. However, on average, participants allocated 29% of their game endowment to recipients, consistent with cross-cultural dictator game studies. We found that the duration of homelessness, social support, and gender were associated with dictator game allocations. Additionally, people experiencing homelessness were more generous when they perceived other unhoused individuals would be more generous and deserving. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e9c661dad4574897bd8b9ccb34537e95 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2564-310X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-08-01 |
| publisher | Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal on Homelessness |
| spelling | doaj-art-e9c661dad4574897bd8b9ccb34537e952025-08-20T02:20:18ZengWestern Libraries, The University of Western OntarioInternational Journal on Homelessness2564-310X2024-08-01439210410.5206/ijoh.2023.3.1698711244Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field ExperimentMary-Catherine Anderson0Ashley Hazel1Jessica Perkins2Zack Almquist3Stanford UniversityUCSFVanderbilt UniversityUniversity of WashingtonSociety often ascribes negative stereotypes to people experiencing homelessness. However, people experiencing homelessness have been found to display highly nuanced social behaviors. We employ a field dictator game to examine prosocial behavior among 173 unhoused individuals in Nashville, TN. We test whether an unhoused population displays ingroup bias, wherein they are more generous toward other people experiencing homelessness (the hypothesized ingroup) than people not experiencing homelessness (the hypothesized out-group). Additionally, we explore relationships between sociodemographic and personal characteristics (social support, perceptions of deservedness/generosity) and dictator game behavior. We did not observe ingroup bias. However, on average, participants allocated 29% of their game endowment to recipients, consistent with cross-cultural dictator game studies. We found that the duration of homelessness, social support, and gender were associated with dictator game allocations. Additionally, people experiencing homelessness were more generous when they perceived other unhoused individuals would be more generous and deserving.https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/16987social networksgame theorycross-cultural studieshomelessness |
| spellingShingle | Mary-Catherine Anderson Ashley Hazel Jessica Perkins Zack Almquist Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment International Journal on Homelessness social networks game theory cross-cultural studies homelessness |
| title | Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment |
| title_full | Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment |
| title_fullStr | Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment |
| title_short | Norms of Fairness and Generosity Among People Experiencing Homelessness: A Dictator Game Field Experiment |
| title_sort | norms of fairness and generosity among people experiencing homelessness a dictator game field experiment |
| topic | social networks game theory cross-cultural studies homelessness |
| url | https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/16987 |
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