Vanags, P., Cutler, J, Kosse, F., Lockwood, P. (in press). Greater income and financial well-being are associated with higher prosocial preferences and behaviours across 76 countries. PNAS Nexus.
Pre-print available: https://osf.io/z35fm/
ABSTRACT
Prosocial preferences and behaviors – defined as those that benefit others – are essential for health, well-being, and a society that can effectively respond to global challenges. Identifying factors that may increase or decrease them is therefore critical. Wealth, in the form of income or subjective financial well-being, may be crucial in determining prosociality. In addition, individuals’ experience of precarity (inability to meet basic needs), or country-specific factors could change how wealth correlates with prosociality, yet this impact is unknown. Here, we tested how self-reported household income and financial well-being were associated with seven measures of prosociality in a global, representative sample of 80,337 people across 76 countries. We show a consistent positive association between wealth and prosociality, across both measures and for both financial and non-financial prosocial preferences and behaviors. Household income was positively associated with altruism, positive reciprocity, donating money, volunteering, and helping a stranger, but negatively associated with trust. Financial well-being was positively associated with all aspects of prosociality, including trust. Individuals’ experience of precarity reduced the strength of wealth associations for prosocial preferences but increased them for prosocial behaviors. Positive associations between wealth and prosociality were found around the world and across country-level wealth and cultural factors. These findings could have important implications for enhancing prosociality, critical for a healthy and adaptive society.
Vanags, P., Cutler, J., Apps, M., Apperly, I., Park, S., Konovalov, A., & Lockwood, P.L. (in prep). Mechanisms of prosociality in human social groups.
| Novel online multi-player game based on social foraging theory. Paper will include online study, replication each with 200+ participants, and an fMRI study with 40 healthy adults. |
Vanags, P., Francis, K., McNabb, C. (pre-print) A longitudinal study on the moralisation of e-waste.
Dissertation study for my cognitive neuroscience MSc. I ran a pilot and then a three-stage online longitudinal study using video stimulus to track how different issues became moralised with exposure. I gained experience with online research (Gorilla), and also with statistical analsysis and data visualisation using R. Published as as pre-print: https://osf.io/nga9u/
Vanags, P., Baimel, A. (pre-print) The importance of moral framing in pro-environmental behaviour.
Dissertation study. In this study I wanted to find a way to look at real-world pro-environmental data. I negotiated access to a huge dataset at Oxford Brookes University which gave 24/7 readings of the thermostat settings in student rooms. I combined this with the experimental maniupulation of a communications campaign in residential halls encouraging a reduction in heating use via thermostat control from a climate change perspective. I combined this big-data analysis in R with an online survey administered in Qualtrics. Published as a pre-print: https://osf.io/85wa6/
Paul Vanags 