Researchers from the Universitat Jaume I and the University of Zurich show that selfishness and economic generosity are compatible depending on whether those affected are a large group or an individual



[Valencià](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/ca?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/ "Cambiar idioma a català")
[Español](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/es?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/ "Cambiar idioma a español")
[English](#0)

Mobile menu

* [Profile](#0)
  + [Future students](/perfils/futurs/)
  + [UJI students](/perfils/estudiantat/uji/)
  + [PDI-PI](/perfils/pdipas/base/pdi/)
  + [PTGAS](/perfils/pdipas/base/pas/)
  + [AlumniSAUJI](/serveis/alumnisauji/)
  + [Companies and institutions](/perfils/empresa/)
* [Tools](#0)
  + [Virtual Classroom](https://aulavirtual.uji.es/)
  + [CAU](https://cau.uji.es/)
  + [Directory](//www.uji.es/institucional/contacta/)
  + [Gmail](http://gmail.uji.es/)
  + [Intranet (IGLU)](//www.uji.es/upo/rest/iglu/)
  + [Virtual Office](/seu/)
  + [Academic information (SIA)](http://sia.uji.es/)
  + [Others](//www.uji.es/serveis/scp/eines/)
* [Valencià](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/ca?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/ "Cambiar idioma a català")
  [Español](/upo/rest/publicacion/idioma/es?urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&url=/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/&urlRedirect=https://www.uji.es/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/ "Cambiar idioma a español")
  [English](#0)

[# Universitat Jaume I](/)

* [# Universitat Jaume I](/)
* [Profile](#0)
  + [Future students](/perfils/futurs/)
  + [UJI students](/perfils/estudiantat/uji/)
  + [PDI-PI](/perfils/pdipas/base/pdi/)
  + [PTGAS](/perfils/pdipas/base/pas/)
  + [AlumniSAUJI](/serveis/alumnisauji/)
  + [Companies and institutions](/perfils/empresa/)
* [Tools](#0)
  + [Virtual Classroom](https://aulavirtual.uji.es/)
  + [CAU](https://cau.uji.es/)
  + [Directory](//www.uji.es/institucional/contacta/)
  + [Gmail](http://gmail.uji.es/)
  + [Intranet (IGLU)](//www.uji.es/upo/rest/iglu/)
  + [Virtual Office](/seu/)
  + [Academic information (SIA)](http://sia.uji.es/)
  + [Others](//www.uji.es/serveis/scp/eines/)
* [Studies](/mapa/estudis/)
  + [Studies](/mapa/estudis/)
  + [Bachelor’s degrees](/estudis/)
  + [University master’s degrees](/estudis/?p_estudio=m)
  + [Doctoral studies](/estudis/oferta/doctorat/)
  + [Lifelong learning](/estudis/base/formacio-permanent/)
* [Research and innovation](/investigacio/)
  + [Research and innovation](/investigacio/)
  + [Research portal](/investigacio/)
  + [Innovation](/innovacio/)
  + [Doctoral studies](/centres/escola-doctorat/)
  + [HRS4R](/investigacio/hrs4r/)
* [International](/internacional/)
  + [International](/internacional/)
  + [International Students](/internacional/base/estudiantat/estudiantado-internacional/)
  + [Exchange Programmes](/serveis/ori/base/programes-intercanvi/)
  + [Study Abroad](/internacional/base/study-abroad/)
* [UJI](/mapa/uji/)
  + [UJI](/mapa/uji/)
  + [Get to know the UJI](/mapa/uji/coneix-uji/)
  + [Structure and organisation](/institucional/estructura/)
  + [Strategy and quality](/institucional/estrategia/)
  + [Transparency](/transparencia/)
  + [Public integrity](/transparencia/liniaetica/)
  + [News](/actualitat/)
  + [Contact the UJI](/institucional/contacta/)
* [University life](/mapa/vida-universitaria/)
  + [University life](/mapa/serveis/)
  + [Library](/serveis/cd/)
  + [Campus](/mapa/uji/coneix-uji/campus/)
  + [Culture](/cultura/)
  + [Sports](/esports/)
  + [InfoCampus](/serveis/infocampus/)

[UJI](/)
[News](/com/sumari/noticies/)

## Researchers from the Universitat Jaume I and the University of Zurich show that selfishness and economic generosity are compatible depending on whether those affected are a large group or an individual This study aims to clarify the contrast between the high levels of prosocial behaviour revealed by economic experiments and the widespread selfishness perceived in corporate and corruption scandals

09/09/2021 |
SCP

Compartir

Compartir

×

Linkedin

BlueSky

Facebook

Mastodon

Whatsapp

Gmail

Imprimir

* [![ egoisme-economic FotoJaumeGarcia-Segarra_600](/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2021/9/egoisme-economic/FotoJaumeGarcia-Segarra_600.jpg)](#)

A laboratory study by researchers Jaume García-Segarra from the Universitat Jaume I and Carlos Alós Ferrer and Alexander Ritschel from the University of Zurich reveals that economic selfishness in decisions affecting large groups is compatible with generous behaviour when it comes to bilateral interactions, i.e. that both types of behaviour coexist in the same individuals. The study has been published in the prestigious journal *Nature Human Behaviour*

The recent decades have witnessed a critical loss of trust of the public in financial institutions, large corporations and economic decision-makers due to frequent corporate and corruption scandals. This economic selfishness is at odds with empirical results from behavioural economics, which show high levels of prosocial behaviour in bilateral interactions and low levels of dishonest behaviour.

To clarify this apparent contradiction, the researchers designed a new experimental paradigm, the Big Robber Game, where 640 university students participated. In the game, an individual could take up to half of the earnings of a large group of participants with impunity.

“Decisions in this game involve taking a fraction of the earnings of others, which shares a fundamental aspect of business scandals, as it actively harms a large group. In contrast, these same subjects show prosocial behaviour in standard bilateral games involving the sharing of a gain between two individuals”, the researchers explain.

In the experiment, half of the participants were assigned the role of a robber and the other half the role of a victim. The robbers decided as to what fraction of the victims' earnings they wanted to take — 0%, 10%, 33% or 50%. Of the 320 robbers, more than half decided to steal the maximum, i.e. half of the victims' earnings, while 26.8% decided to take 33%. Therefore, 83.12% of the ‘robbers’ took one of the two options that are most detrimental to the ‘victims’.

Furthermore, to allow comparison with standard measures of prosociality, players in both roles also previously made decisions in a series of bilateral games, in which the majority of robbers declined to take the option that most harmed the receiver, thus showing predominantly prosocial behaviour.

Results show that the same individuals can behave selfishly when interacting with a large group of people and, at the same time, they can show standard levels of prosocial behaviour when only one individual is involved. This finding suggests that harming many individuals may be easier than harming only one. In this regard, the authors of the study note that “when facing a single opponent in a bilateral game, taking a given monetary amount can make a large difference between the two individuals. However, when taking the earnings of a large group, the same personal gain implies a smaller percentage difference, i.e., inequality aversion is more likely to be compensated”.

Finally, this experiment has made it possible to show that it is not necessary to resort to explanations of self-selection of a specific type of person to occupy positions of high responsibility in order to explain these selfish and antisocial behaviours, but that any subject can succumb to economic temptation if it is of sufficient magnitude.

Full article:

<https://rdcu.be/cqPad>

Reference:

Alós-Ferrer, C., García-Segarra, J. & Ritschel, A. Generous with individuals and selfish to the masses. *Nat Hum Behav* (2021). <https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01170-0>

Information provided by:
[Communication and Publications Service](/serveis/scp/)

About us

[Home](/com/investigacio/cienciauji/)
[UCC+I](/serveis/scp/ucc/)

Research dissemination

[Ciència TV blog](/com/investigacio/arxiu/ciencia-uji-tv/)
[Ciència UJI newsletter](/com/investigacio/arxiu/ciencia-uji/)
[Horizon Europe newsletter](/com/investigacio/docs/butlleti-horizon-europe/)
[Comboi, a trip through science](/com/investigacio/docs/podcast-comboi-viatge-per-la-ciencia/)
[Scientific news](/com/investigacio/sumari/noticies/ )
[Easy reading news](/com/investigacio/docs/noticies-de-lectura-facil)
[News magazine. Research](/com/revista/tematica/investiga/)
[Radio](http://www.radio.uji.es/programa.php?id=46 )

Scientific divulgation

[Experimenta UJI](/com/investigacio/docs/experimenta-uji/)
[Innobar, con b de bar (Espaitec)](https://espaitec.uji.es/podcast-innobar-con-b-de-bar/)
[Magazine «Humanes i Socials»](https://humanesisocials.uji.es)
[H2020 Projects](/com/investigacio/docs/butlleti-h2020/)
[Projects and papers COVID-19](/com/investigacio/docs/estudis-articles-covid-19/)
[Research pitches](/com/investigacio/research-pitches/)
[The Conversation](/com/investigacio/docs/the-conversation/)
[UJI Divulga (Onda Cero)](/com/investigacio/docs/uji-divulga-onda-cero/)
[Scientific vocabulary](/com/investigacio/docs/vocabulari-cientific/)

Projects and studies

[Projects and studies](/serveis/scp/ucc/projectes/)

Resources of interest

[Divulgateca](http://www.divulgateca.es)

External networks

[CRUE](https://www.crue.org/)
[FECYT](https://www.fecyt.es/es/info/que-son)
[RUVID](https://ruvid.org/)



Useful links

[University card](http://www.carnet.uji.es/)

[Multimedia catalogue](http://jecom.uji.es/)

[University press](/serveis/scp/publ/)

[Web map](//www.uji.es/mapa/)

[Educational model](//www.uji.es/institucional/estrategia/modeleducatiu/)

[Language Observatory](/serveis/ol/)

[Open Knowledge Portal](/serveis/cd/bib/pco/)

[UJI shop](http://www.tenda.uji.es/)

[Security and privacy center](https://www.uji.es/organs/ouag/sg/docs/politiques/gen/)
|
[Website legal notice](https://www.uji.es/comu/avislegal/avislegalicondicions/)
|
[Accessibility policy](https://www.uji.es/serveis/ura/base/accessibilitat/)

Information and queries:
[UJI suggestion box](/comu/forms/bustia)

Universitat Jaume I CIF: Q-6250003-H Av. Vicent Sos Baynat, s/n 12071
Castellón de la Plana,
España

Tel.: +34 964 72 80 00