Back to History Current Version

The Influence of Altruism on Risk Tolerance: The Mediating Role of Emotions

Last registered on April 30, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Influence of Altruism on Risk Tolerance: The Mediating Role of Emotions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015909
Initial registration date
April 30, 2025

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
April 30, 2025, 1:50 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Finland
Region
Oulu
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Region
Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Islam Abdalhafez
Affiliation
University of Oulu
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Andrew Conlin
PI Affiliation
Aalto University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Petri Sahlström
PI Affiliation
University of Oulu
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2025-04-27
End date
2025-05-31
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
Altruism, Risk tolerance, Emotions
JEL code(s)
G41, C9
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines the impact of altruistic priming on individuals’ risk tolerance. Utilizing an online experimental design, participants are randomly assigned to either a treatment or a control group. Those in the treatment group are exposed to an altruism-themed video, while those in the control group view a neutral video. The altruism video has been pre-validated in a laboratory setting. Following the priming, all participants complete a staircase task to measure their risk tolerance. Finally, we elicit participants’ emotional states to explore whether emotions mediate the effect of the altruistic stimulus on risk-taking behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Abdalhafez, Islam, Andrew Conlin and Petri Sahlström. 2025. "The Influence of Altruism on Risk Tolerance: The Mediating Role of Emotions." AEA RCT Registry. April 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15909-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-29
Intervention End Date
2025-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Risk tolerance
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 two groups:

Control Group: Participants in this group receive no priming.
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 staircase tasks to measure their risk tolerance. We elicit participants’ emotional states to explore whether emotions mediate the effect of the altruistic stimulus on risk-taking behavior.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Prolific recruits and Qualtrics automatically randomizes the sample to treatment and control
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
500 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
250 control, 250 treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Power analysis conducted using G*Power for a one-way ANOVA (used here as the parametric equivalent for estimating power for a Kruskal-Wallis test). With a total sample size of 500 participants divided evenly across 2 groups, and a significance level of α = 0.05, the analysis shows that the minimum detectable effect size (MDES) is 0.25 for 80% statistical power, and 0.29 for 90% statistical power.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information