Will you give him some money? External validity of social preferences in Dictator Games

Abstract

To examine the external validity of measurements of social preferences, social preferences as observed and measured on a continuous scale in Dictator Games were related to measures of prosocial behavior outside the laboratory setting. No significant relationship was found, nor could relevant moderators of such a relationship be identified. The findings are discussed in light of four different accounts of social preferences, and relevant considerations concerning research into the internal and external validity of measurements of social preferences are related.