An experimental test of prejudice about foreign people

This paper o¤ers two related issues: (i ) an applications of beliefs about the cooperative behavior of others to policy-oriented issues, (ii ) a method of explor- ing prejudices (toward others) where interviewees are oblivious of its purpose. We studied contributions and guesses about others?contributions through an experimental game. Prejudice is examined as an implicitly held belief by a Spanish college student towards any of the speci?ed foreign population groups (i.e. the Asians, the Africans, the Latin Americans and the Westerners). The results show that: at the individual level, there exists some subjects that harbor strong positive (and negative) prejudices toward the foreigners. The prejudice models ?tted also show that: own contributions, femaleness, individual wealth; and beliefs about income status, cultural status, religious intensity, societal co- operation and political orientation have strong in?uences on racial prejudice.Beliefs, Prejudice, Public Goods Game

Words make people think, ... but pictures make people feel: The effect negative vs. positive images on charitable behavior

We ran an experiment where the subjects initially played a four-round dictator game, after which each subject was shown either a set of positive images or a set of negative images. Finally the subjects played another four-round dictator game.
The effect of the sign of images shown is clear on the players’ behaviors: positive images have moderate effects on charitable behavior while negative images dramatically increase charity.
We could therefore infer from our experimental results that showing negative images of the Haitian and Chilean catastrophes to the international public would have significant positive impacts on international donations to the victims and the rebuilding programs in both countries

Induced Negative Mood Increases Dictator Game Giving

The study examines the influence of induced negative mood on dictator game giving (DGG) with two recipients. Participants (N = 63) played the role of a dictator in a three-player dictator game. They could choose among two options: an altruistic option, where two receivers receive 10 Euros and the dictator himself receives nothing, or a selfish option, where the dictator himself receives 5 Euros and both receivers receive nothing. For half of the participants, the second option entailed that only one receiver receives nothing and the other receives 10 Euros. After four rounds, participants were randomly assigned to look at 10 pictures with either positive or negative emotional content with the purpose of inducing positive or negative mood. The results show that looking at pictures with negative emotional content increases anxiety and skin conductance and increases DGG in the remaining four rounds of the game. On the other hand, whether the selfish option would imply that one or both recipients receive nothing does not seem to have a strong influence on DGG.PsycINFO Classification code: 2340; 2360

The separate effects of self-estimated and actual alcohol intoxication on risk-taking: a field experiment

First
 Version
(“Alcohol
 Consumption 
and 
Risk 
Attitude”):
 October 
2008.Many risky actions are carried out under the influence of alcohol. However, the effect of alcoholic intoxication over the willingness to take risks is complex and still remains unclear. We conduct an economic field experiment in a natural, drinking and risk-taking environment to analyze how both actual and self-estimated blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels influence subjects’ choices over monetary lotteries. Our results reveal a negative impact of both actual and self-estimated BAC levels on risk-taking. However, for male and young subjects, we find a positive relationship between BAC underestimation (a pattern of estimation error which mainly occurs at high BAC levels) and the willingness to choose riskier lotteries. Our findings suggest that a risk compensation mechanism is activated only when individuals’ own intoxication level is consciously self-perceived to be high. We conclude therefore that human propensity to engage in risky activities under the influence of alcohol is not due to an enhanced preference for risky choices. In addition to the suggestion in the existing literature that such propensity is due to a weakened ability to perceive risks, our results indicate that an impaired self-perception of own intoxication level may also be an important factor.Financial
 support 
from 
the 
Spanish 
Ministry
 of 
Science
 and Innovation (SEJ2010‐17049/ECON),
 the
 Regional
 Programs SEJ‐02547,
 SEJ‐340
 and
 SEJ‐023
 of
 the
 Regional
 Government 
of 
Andalusia


Analysis of the variability of airborne particulate matter with prevailing meteorological conditions across a semi-urban environment using a network of low-cost air quality sensors.

The concentrations of fine and coarse fractions of airborne particulate matter (PM) and meteorological variables (wind speed, wind direction, temperature and relative humidity) were measured at six selected locations in Ile Ife, a prominent university town in Nigeria using a network of low-cost air quality (AQ) sensor units. The objective of the deployment was to collate baseline air quality data and assess the impact of prevailing meteorological conditions on PM concentrations in selected residential communities downwind of an iron smelting facility. The raw data obtained from OPC-N2 of the AQ sensor units was corrected using the RH correction factor developed based k-Kohler theory. This PM (corrected) fast time resolution data (20 s) from the AQ sensor units were used to create daily averages. The overall mean mass concentrations for PM2.5 and PM10 were 213.3, 44.1, 23.8, 27.7, 20.2 and 41.5 μg/m3 and; 439.9, 107.1, 55.0, 72.4, 45.5 and 112.0 μg/m3 for Fasina (Iron-Steel Smelting Factory, ISSF), Modomo, Eleweran, Fire Service, O.A.U. staff quarters and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching and Research Farm (OAUTRF), respectively. PM concentration and wind speed showed a negative exponential distribution curve with the lowest exponential fit coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.08 for PM2.5 and 0.03 for PM10 during nighttime periods at Eleweran and Fire service sites, respectively. The relationship between PM concentration and temperature gave a decay curve indicating that higher PM concentrations were observed at lower temperatures. The exponential distribution curve for the relationship between PM concentration and relative humidity (RH) showed that PM concentrations do not vary for RH 80 % for both day and nighttime. The performances of the MLR model were slightly poor and as such not too reliable for predicting the concentration but useful for improving predictive model accuracy when other variables contributing to the variability of PM is considered. The study concluded that the anthropogenic and industrial activities at the smelting factory contribute significantly to the elevated PM mass concentration measured at the study locations

Three essays on pro-social behavior

Tesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Teoría e Historia Económica. Leída el 4 de febrero del 201

Response Time and Heart Rate in a Moral Dilemma

Is altruism the intuitive behavior in a moral dilemma? Or is selfishness the spontaneous behavior? To answer this question, a dictator game was played in which measures of response time and heart rates were taken with treatments that slightly differ only in the cost associated with the choice of a selfish responding. We find that neither altruism nor egoism is an intuitive process for everyone; rather, altruism is intuitive for altruistic subjects while egoism is intuitive for selfish subjects so that when these subjects are confronted with the choice of the opposite, less probable options, they become more reflective by taking longer time to respond. Lastly, during the decision period, a subject that is altruistic has a higher probability of experiencing an increase in the mean heart rate than a subject that is selfish

Response Time and Heart Rate in a Moral Dilemma

Is altruism the intuitive behavior in a moral dilemma? Or is selfishness the spontaneous behavior? To answer this question, a dictator game was played in which measures of response time and heart rates were taken with treatments that slightly differ only in the cost associated with the choice of a selfish responding. We find that neither altruism nor egoism is an intuitive process for everyone; rather, altruism is intuitive for altruistic subjects while egoism is intuitive for selfish subjects so that when these subjects are confronted with the choice of the opposite, less probable options, they become more reflective by taking longer time to respond. Lastly, during the decision period, a subject that is altruistic has a higher probability of experiencing an increase in the mean heart rate than a subject that is selfish.Depto. de Análisis Económico y Economía CuantitativaFac. de Ciencias Económicas y EmpresarialesTRUEpu

An experimental test of prejudice about foreign people

This paper o ers two related issues: (i) an application of beliefs about the cooperative behavior of others to policy-oriented issues; and (ii) a method of exploring racial prejudices where the subjects are oblivious of its purpose. We studied contributions and guesses about others' contributions in an experimental game. Prejudice is examined as a two-sided, implicitly held belief by Spanish college students toward any of the speci ed foreign population groups (i.e. Africans, Asians, Latin Americans and Westerners). The results show that subjects tend to harbor mixed feelings toward foreigners. However, racial prejudices do not have unique determinants across the foreign groups under study nor do the determining factors work in similar directions as observed with some signi cant variables such as individual net worth, beliefs about income status, religious intensity and societal cooperation.Financial support from MCI (ECO2010-17049) and Junta de Andalucía (PO7-SEJ-02547)