Do Women Behave Less or More Prosocially than Men?: Evidence from Two Field Experiments
Abstract
The behavior of others and the price of giving are two important determinants of contributions to public goods. Using two field experiments, this article tests whether men and women differ in their reactions to either a change in the average behavior of the group or a change in the price of giving, that is, a contribution-matching mechanism. The results of the field experiments show that men and women do not differ in their reactions to a matching mechanism. However, substantial gender differences can be detected with respect to social comparison. Men tend to align their behavior with the average behavior of the group, whereas women seem to be insensitive to information about group behavior.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Women are on average more proficient at social cognition and tend to display more prosocial behavior than men.
“women are on average more proficient at social cognition and tend to display more prosocial behavior than men”
From Hypernatural Monitoring: A Social Rehearsal Account of Smartphone Addiction (2018) · cites this paper as Meier, 2007
Cites
Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity
Cialdini, R. B., & Goldstein, N. J. (2004) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.142015 · Cited by 6,077 · see citing works
Gender Differences in Preferences
Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.47.2.448 · Cited by 5,694 · see citing works
Models of the self: self-construals and gender.
Cross, S., & Madson, L. (1997) · Psychological bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.5 · Cited by 2,851 · see citing works
Are people conditionally cooperative? Evidence from a public goods experiment
Fischbacher, U., Gächter, S., & Fehr, E. (2001) · Economics Letters · doi:10.1016/s0165-1765(01)00394-9 · Cited by 2,780 · see citing works
Gender and aggressive behavior: A meta-analytic review of the social psychological literature.
Eagly, A. H., & Steffen, V. J. (1986) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.100.3.309 · Cited by 1,646 · see citing works
Which is the fair sex? Gender differences in altruism.
Andreoni, J., & Vesterlund, L. (2001) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355301556419 · Cited by 1,427 · see citing works
Social Comparisons and Pro-social Behavior: Testing “Conditional Cooperation” in a Field Experiment
Frey, B. S., & Meier, S. (2004) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/0002828043052187 · Cited by 1,184 · see citing works
Swamy, A. V., Knack, S., Lee, Y., & Azfar, O. (2001) · Journal of Development Economics · doi:10.1016/s0304-3878(00)00123-1 · Cited by 1,109 · see citing works
Gender and helping behavior: A meta-analytic review of the social psychological literature.
Eagly, A. H., & Crowley, M. (1986) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.100.3.283 · Cited by 1,068 · see citing works
Are women less selfish than men?: Evidence from dictator experiments.
Eckel, C. C., & Grossman, P. J. (1998) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1111/1468-0297.00311 · Cited by 1,000 · see citing works
Shang, J. Y., & Croson, R. T. A. (2009) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02267.x · Cited by 761 · see citing works
Decomposing Trust and Trustworthiness
Ashraf, N., Bohnet, I., & Piankov, N. E. (2006) · Experimental Economics · doi:10.1007/s10683-006-9122-4 · Cited by 625 · see citing works
Gabriel, S., & Gardner, W. L. (1999) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.642 · Cited by 619 · see citing works
Handbook of Experimental Economics Results
Plott, C. R., & Smith, V. L. (2008) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 573 · see citing works
List, J. A., & Lucking‐Reiley, D. (2002) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/324392 · Cited by 560 · cited 1× · see citing works
“For other field experiments on charitable giving, see List and Lucking-Reiley (2002) and Falk (2004).”
Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (1981) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.90.1.1 · Cited by 525 · see citing works
Baumeister, R. F., & Sommer, K. L. (1997) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.122.1.38 · Cited by 509 · see citing works
Charitable Giving, Income, and Taxes: An Analysis of Panel Data
Auten, G. E., Sieg, H., & Clotfelter, C. T. (2002) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/000282802760015793 · Cited by 390 · see citing works
Rebate versus matching: does how we subsidize charitable contributions matter?
Eckel, C. C., & Grossman, P. J. (2003) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/s0047-2727(01)00094-9 · Cited by 379 · see citing works
Sex differences in influenceability.
Eagly, A. H. (1978) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.85.1.86 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
Do Subsidies Increase Charitable Giving in the Long Run? Matching Donations in a Field Experiment
Meier, S. (2007) · Journal of the European Economic Association · doi:10.1162/jeea.2007.5.6.1203 · Cited by 327 · see citing works
The norm of restaurant tipping
Conlin, M., Lynn, M., & O’Donoghue, T. (2003) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/s0167-2681(03)00030-1 · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Gender effects in laboratory public goods contribution
Brown-Kruse, J., & Hummels, D. (1993) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/0167-2681(93)90001-6 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Are Political Economists Selfish and Indoctrinated? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Frey, B. S., & Meier, S. (2003) · Economic Inquiry · doi:10.1093/ei/cbg020 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
After you—endogenous sequencing in voluntary contribution games
Potters, J., Sefton, M., & Vesterlund, L. (2004) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2004.02.008 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Pro-social behavior in a natural setting
Frey, B. S., & Meier, S. (2004) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2003.10.001 · Cited by 229 · see citing works
Charitable Giving by Married Couples
James Andreoni, A., Brown, E. M. L., & Rischall, I. C. (2003) · The Journal of Human Resources · doi:10.3368/jhr.xxxviii.1.111 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
The relative price of fairness: gender differences in a punishment game
Eckel, C. C., & Grossman, P. J. (1996) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/s0167-2681(96)00854-2 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Charitable Giving by Married Couples: Who Decides and Why Does It Matter?
Andreoni, J., Brown, E. M. L., & Rischall, I. (2003) · The Journal of Human Resources · doi:10.2307/1558758 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Sex Differences in Conformity: Status and Gender Role Interpretations
Eagly, A. H., & Chrvala, C. A. (1986) · Psychology of Women Quarterly · doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1986.tb00747.x · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Gender and cooperative behavior: economicmanrides alone
Seguino, S., Stevens, T., & Lutz, M. A. (1996) · Feminist Economics · doi:10.1080/738552683 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Charitable Giving as a Gift Exchange - Evidence from a Field Experiment
Falk, A. (2003) · Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) · doi:10.5167/uzh-52064 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Do Subsidies Increase Charitable Giving in the Long Run? Matching Donations in a Field ExperimentPreprint
Meier, S. (2007) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.960959 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citationCroson, R. T. A., & Shang, Y. (2007) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e514412014-180 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 35 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Hypernatural Monitoring: A Social Rehearsal Account of Smartphone Addiction
Veissière, S. P. L., & Stendel, M. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00141 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“…average more proficient at social cognition and tend to display more prosocial behavior than men (Eckel and Grossman, 1998; Andreoni and Vesterlund, 2001; Meier, 2007; Laasch and Conaway, 2009; Rand et al., 2016; Soutschek et al., 2017; see Espinosa and Kovářík, 2015 for alternate explanations).”
BackgroundExamining charitable giving in real-world online donations
Sisco, M. R., & Weber, E. U. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-11852-z · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Altruism in individual and joint-giving decisions: What's gender got to do with it?
Kamas, L., Preston, A. E., & Baum, S. (2008) · Feminist Economics · doi:10.1080/13545700801986571 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Can social preferences explain gender differences in economic behavior?
Kamas, L., & Preston, A. E. (2015) · Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization · doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2015.05.017 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Opoku, R. A. (2012) · International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing · doi:10.1002/nvsm.1457 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Gender differences in beliefs and actions in a framed corruption experiment
Fišar, M., Kubák, M., Špalek, J., & Tremewan, J. (2016) · Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics · doi:10.1016/j.socec.2016.05.004 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
The Effects of Similarity on Charitable Giving in Donor–Donor Dyads: A Systematic Literature Review
Tian, Y., & Konrath, S. (2019) · VOLUNTAS International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations · doi:10.1007/s11266-019-00165-w · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Gender Differences in Preferences for Meaning at Work
Burbano, V., Padilla, N., & Meier, S. (2024) · American Economic Journal Economic Policy · doi:10.1257/pol.20220121 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Ho, B., Taber, J. T., Poe, G. L., & Bento, A. M. (2015) · Environmental and Resource Economics · doi:10.1007/s10640-014-9872-y · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Believed Gender Differences in Social Preferences
Exley, C. L., Hauser, O., Moore, M., & Pezzuto, J.-H. (2024) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1093/qje/qjae030 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Stochastic Income and Conditional GenerosityPreprint
Kellner, C., Reinstein, D. A., & Riener, G. (2015) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2691027 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Norm avoiders: The effect of optional descriptive norms on charitable donations
Andersson, P. A., Erlandsson, A., & Västfjäll, D. (2021) · Journal of Behavioral Decision Making · doi:10.1002/bdm.2244 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
How and Why Women Give: Current and Future Directions for Research on Women’s Philanthropy
Mesch, D. J., Osili, U., Ackerman, J., & Dale, E. (2015) · Purdue University Indianapolis (Indiana University) · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Paying Restitution: Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Information and Rationale
Ruback, R. B., Gladfelter, A. S., & Lantz, B. (2014) · Criminology & Public Policy · doi:10.1111/1745-9133.12094 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
(2011) · ASHE Higher Education Report · doi:10.1002/aehe.3702 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Behavioral Changes of MTurkers during the COVID-19 PandemicPreprint
Aksoy, B., Chadd, I., Osun, E. B., & Ozbay, E. Y. (2021) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3920502 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Ex-ante commitments to “give if you win” exceed donations after a win
Kellner, C., Reinstein, D. A., & Riener, G. (2018) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.10.009 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
What Drives Gender Differences in Trust and Trustworthiness?
Mukherjee, S. (2020) · Public Finance Review · doi:10.1177/1091142120960801 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
How well do couples know their partners’ preferences? Experimental evidence from joint recreation
Boto‐García, D., & Mariel, P. (2024) · Economia Politica · doi:10.1007/s40888-024-00346-x · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Charity and Gift Exchange in PakistanPreprint
Naeem, S., & Zaman, A. (2009) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1443568 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Norm avoiders: the effect of optional descriptive norms on charitable donationsPreprint
Västfjäll, D., Andersson, P., & Erlandsson, A. (2021) · OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints)
- Authors
- Meier, S.
- Affiliations
- Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (US)
- Corresponding author
- Meier, Stephan
- ORCID
- Meier, Stephan
- Venue
- Public Finance Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-03
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 215-232
- ISSN
- 1091-1421 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7530
- OpenAlex
- W2160318930
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2024: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Public Finance Review (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
- Keywords
- gender differences, prosocial behavior, public goods, social comparison, voluntary contributions, field experiments
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review