Separating reputation, social influence, and identification effects in a dictator game

This study explores the ways in which information about other individualʹs action affects oneʹs own behavior in a dictator game. The experimental design discriminates behaviorally between three possible effects of recipientʹs within-game reputation on the dictatorʹs decision: Reputation causing indirect reciprocity, social influence, and identification. The separation of motives is an important step in trying to understand how impulses towards selfish or generous behavior arise. The statistical analysis of experimental data reveals that the reputation effects have a stronger impact on dictators’ actions than the social influence and identification.