Financial scarcity refers to the perception of having insufficient monetary resources to meet daily demands. There is an ongoing debate on how financial scarcity affects social decision-making,...Show moreFinancial scarcity refers to the perception of having insufficient monetary resources to meet daily demands. There is an ongoing debate on how financial scarcity affects social decision-making, such as the decision to act prosocially. The current study examined the relationship between financial scarcity and prosocial behavior and whether the basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness, competence, or attentional focus mediate it. The study was conducted on 120 participants using an experimental design with Household Tasks, a Dictator game, and self-reported questionnaires. No direct relationship between financial scarcity and prosocial behavior was found. Nonetheless, participants with financial scarcity acted less prosocially towards individuals with financial abundance. Financial scarcity negatively impacted satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness. The basic psychological need for autonomy and attentional focus on one's own financial situation reduced prosocial behavior. No mediating mechanisms were found. The study further discusses limitations, implications for interventions, and future research.Show less
In the past, research on prosocial behaviors in antisocial and psychopathic violent offenders focused on their empathetic tendencies and the resulting prosocial behavior under negatively valenced...Show moreIn the past, research on prosocial behaviors in antisocial and psychopathic violent offenders focused on their empathetic tendencies and the resulting prosocial behavior under negatively valenced social situations (e.g. pain inflicted), disregarding the potential of positively valenced situations to elicit such behavior. This study aimed at closing this gap, by assessing prosocial behavior in psychopathic and antisocial violent offenders as opposed to a non-offender group, after presenting them with positively valenced social situations. This was done by employing an Empathy Dictator Game (EDG), in which 50 participants were asked to distribute coins between themselves and a male or female target, which they previously observed in a neutral, positive, or prosocial situation. Results showed that while psychopathic offenders did not differ significantly in their coin offers from antisocial offenders or the control group, the prosociality of the social situation influenced higher coin allocation. This effect was especially strong for individuals higher in empathetic skills. Lastly, male targets generally received more coins than female targets. This effect further influenced the effect of the diagnosis of participants on prosocial behavior, yet not the effect of the valence of the social situation. Taken together, these results suggest that violent offenders lacking empathy do have the capacity to display prosocial behaviors under the right circumstances and practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.Show less
