Econ Readers

  Economics suggests that people are primarily self-interested and that they make decisions based on what will benefit them the most. However, this chapter is about altruism, which bucks that trend. However, recent studies and experiments have suggested that people may be more altruistic than originally thought, which has complicated the idea that people are rational, selfish beings who make decisions based solely on what will benefit them. The Dictator Game is one such experiment that has called into question the idea of human self-interest. The authors spend time discussing how people are not always as altruistic as one might think. People may help others for self-serving reasons, including reducing guilt, because they hope to get something in return, or because someone is watching. The authors mention a few different versions of the Dictator Game that were created by John List. These variants suggest that people are not as altruistic as what was originally thought. Though people...