Peoplethat want to helpothersare more likely to reduce their personal welfare to benefit another person from theirgrouprather than a person from anothergroup,newresearchfrom the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) has found.
The study, undertaken by WU researcher Susann Fiedler, used eye-tracking technology to record participants’ gaze behaviour while they actively decided whether or not they should share their resources with another person.
Fiedler and her colleagues also found that individuals whose partner is a member of theirowngroupplaced a larger weight onothers’ outcomes and invested more time and effort in gathering information before reaching a decision.
She notes thatpeopleare more concerned about the consequences of their decisions when members of theirowngroup涉及和著名ected.
Theresearchalso revealed a correlation between the desire tohelpothersand the amount of effort people put into decision-making: people with stronger prosocial preferences (those who want to helpothers) took more time to make decisions. They inspected more information before making those choices.
Reflecting on the study and its findings, Susann Fiedler, author and WU researcher, says:“The findings shed light on howwemake decisions that impactothers. And specifically, the study delves into the fascinating subject of how the extent to whichwecare about the resources ofothersis impacted by certain contexts, such associalgroupings.”
“Interestingly, the study also calls into question the long-held assumption that cooperation and generosity are intuitive decisions made fast and without much deliberation, exploring how much effort many invest in information search when making a decision that maximises theirownresources, benefits theirownteam, or supports a rivallinggroup.”
