Altruism, Materialism, and Decision Making: Effects on Risk and Time Preferences

Last registered on June 25, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Altruism, Materialism, and Decision Making: Effects on Risk and Time Preferences
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013872
Initial registration date
June 24, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 25, 2024, 2:12 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Oulu

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Aalto University
PI Affiliation
University of Oulu

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-03-14
End date
2024-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study investigates how altruism (intrinsic motivation) and materialism (extrinsic motivation) influence decision-making, specifically focusing on risk tolerance and time preferences. We manipulate participants' exposure to altruistic and materialistic primes and examine their impact on financial decision-making. Using an online experimental design, participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group, a group primed with materialism, and a group primed with altruism using pre-validated videos. Subsequently, participants complete multiple price list choices to assess their risk tolerance and time preferences.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Abdalhafez, Islam, Andrew Conlin and Petri Sahlström. 2024. "Altruism, Materialism, and Decision Making: Effects on Risk and Time Preferences." AEA RCT Registry. June 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13872-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study employs video-based priming interventions to examine the effects of altruism and materialism on decision-making. The experiment consists of three groups:

Control Group: Participants in this group receive no priming intervention, allowing them to act under their natural intrinsic motivation.
Materialism Treatment Group: Participants are exposed to a pre-validated video designed to prime materialistic attitudes
Altruism Treatment Group: Participants view a pre-validated video designed to prime altruistic attitudes

The videos used for priming have been validated in a pre-test to ensure their effectiveness in eliciting the desired mindsets. Following the priming intervention (or lack thereof in the control group), all participants complete multiple price list choices to measure their risk tolerance and time preferences.
Intervention Start Date
2024-07-01
Intervention End Date
2024-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
This study has two primary outcome variables:

Risk Tolerance:
Measured using multiple price list choices, this outcome quantifies participants' willingness to take financial risks. The risk tolerance score is calculated based on participants' choices in hypothetical investment scenarios, with higher scores indicating greater risk tolerance.
Time Preference:
Also measured using multiple price list choices, this outcome assesses participants' preferences for immediate versus delayed financial rewards. The time preference score is derived from choices between smaller, immediate payoffs and larger, delayed payoffs, with higher scores indicating a stronger preference for delayed rewards (i.e., more patience).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study employs video-based priming interventions to examine the effects of altruism and materialism on decision-making. The experiment consists of three groups:

Control Group: Participants in this group receive no priming intervention, allowing them to act under their natural intrinsic motivation.
Materialism Treatment Group: Participants are exposed to a pre-validated video designed to prime materialistic attitudes
Altruism Treatment Group: Participants view a pre-validated video designed to prime altruistic attitudes

The videos used for priming have been validated in a pre-test to ensure their effectiveness in eliciting the desired mindsets. Following the priming intervention (or lack thereof in the control group), all participants complete multiple price list choices to measure their risk tolerance and time preferences.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Qualtrics automatically randomize the sample
Randomization Unit
The experiment consists of three groups:

Control Group: Participants in this group receive no priming intervention, allowing them to act under their natural intrinsic motivation.
Materialism Treatment Group: Participants are exposed to a pre-validated video designed to prime materialistic attitudes, representing extrinsic motivation.
Altruism Treatment Group: Participants view a pre-validated video designed to prime altruistic attitudes, representing intrinsic motivation.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
250 male and 250 female subjects
Sample size: planned number of observations
500 subjects
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
167 Materialism group, 167 Altruism group, 166 control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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