Relation between Altruism and Dishonest Profiteering from Another'S Misfortune

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology Vol. 109; no. 1; pp. 43 - 48
• Main Author: Newman, Colin V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Worcester, Mass Taylor & Francis Group 01.10.1979; Clark University Press
• Subjects: Indexing in process
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.1080/00224545.1979.9933637

A field experiment was conducted in which a female student confederate dropped either a 10p or 2p coin while approaching an S (total N = 80 men and women) who was either another student on the university campus or a member of the public in a central shopping area of a major British city. An observer recorded whether the S ignored the coin, or picked it up and either kept it or returned it to its owner. On the campus there was virtually no dishonesty (keeping the coin), but altruism (returning the coin) increased with the value of the coin. In the city, altruism did not vary with the value of the coin, but dishonesty did increase with value of the coin. Dishonesty was much more common in the city than on campus but altruism was equally frequent in both locations. The results imply that dishonesty and altruism are not opposite extremes of the same theoretical variable, but are separate variables influenced independently of each other by other factors.