Acute stress does not affect economic behavior in the experimental laboratory

Veszteg, Róbert F.; Yamakawa, Kohji; Matsubayashi, Tetsuya; Ueda, Michiko

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0244881

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The empirical record regarding the effects of acute stress on Dictator giving is quite mixed. While some studies have shown that acute stress increases prosocial behavior ( von Dawans et al, 2012 , 2019 ; Margittai et al, 2015 ; Domes and Zimmer, 2019 ), others show that stress decreases it ( Vinkers et al, 2013 ), with others still showing no effect of acute stress on social decision making ( Steinbeis et al, 2015 ; Veszteg et al, 2021 ). Consequently, the emerging consensus is that the effects of stress on social behavior are not well-described by simple main effects, and likely are dependent on additional factors [see reviews in Buchanan and Preston (2014) and von Dawans et al (2021) ], such as the type of decision and it’s timing following stress exposure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy Modulates the Effect of Stress Reactivity on Generous Giving

et al. 2022

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How does acute stress influence the degree to which we cooperate with others? Research on the effects of stress on social decision-making is guided by two seemingly contrasting theories. Acute stress may trigger a Fight-or-Flight response, manifested by increased anxiety, and more egocentric or selfish behavior. Alternatively, according to the Tend-and-Befriend model, acute stress may induce affiliative behaviors, marked by increased prosociality in an effort to seek and receive social support and protection. Extant studies on the topic do not provide consistent support for either pattern of behavior, with studies showing evidence for both Fight-or-Flight or Tend-and-Befriend like responses. One possibility, may be the nature of social responses to stressful situations differ as a function of the individual. In the current study, we demonstrate an example of such a person-by-situation interaction, showing that acute stress can cause either pro-social or selfish responses, contingent on individual differences in trait empathy. One hundred and twenty three participants (60 F) were assessed for trait empathy using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index; consequently, they underwent either the Trier Social Stress Test—a well-validated paradigm for eliciting acute psychosocial stress—or a non-stress inducing control condition. Following exposure to either the stress or control condition, participants played a one-shot Dictator Game to evaluate their generosity levels. Statistical analyses revealed that acute stress by itself did not affect the amount transferred in the Dictator Game. Rather, individual differences in trait empathy moderated the effects of stress on giving. Elevations in stress-induced cortisol resulted in more generous behavior, but only in individuals high in empathy. In contrast, in individuals low in empathy, a greater rise in stress-induced cortisol resulted in more selfish behavior. Effects were more pronounced in females than males. Our findings highlight the necessity of integrating personality traits as important moderators of the link between stress and sociality.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy Modulates the Effect of Stress Reactivity on Generous Giving

et al. 2022

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“…However, previous work investigating prosocial decision making under acute stress has yielded mixed findings. Some studies suggest that acute stress can increase prosocial tendencies (Tomova et al, 2017;von Dawans et al, 2012), whereas others have demonstrated decreases (Sollberger et al, 2016;Vinkers et al, 2013) or no effects at all (for a recent meta-analysis, see Nitschke, Forbes, et al, 2022;Veszteg et al, 2021). Several mechanisms have been proposed as to how acute stress leads to increases in prosocial behaviour including an increased affiliative drive to seek social support from others: the 'tend and befriend' response (Taylor et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute stress reduces effortful prosocial behaviour

Forbes

Aydogan

Braunstein

et al. 2024

eLife

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Acute stress can change our cognition and emotions, but what specific consequences this has for human prosocial behaviour is unclear. Previous studies have mainly investigated prosociality with financial transfers in economic games and produced conflicting results. Yet a core feature of many types of prosocial behaviour is that they are effortful. We therefore examined how acute stress changes our willingness to exert effort that benefits others. Healthy male participants – half of whom were put under acute stress – made decisions whether to exert physical effort to gain money for themselves or another person. With this design, we could independently assess the effects of acute stress on prosocial, compared to self-benefitting, effortful behaviour. Compared to controls (n=45), participants in the stress group (n=46) chose to exert effort more often for self- than for other- benefitting rewards at a low level of effort. Additionally, the adverse effects of stress on prosocial effort were particularly pronounced in more selfish participants. Neuroimaging combined with computational modelling revealed a putative neural mechanism underlying these effects: more stressed participants showed increased activation to subjective value in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula when they themselves could benefit from their exerted effort, relative to when someone else could. By using an effort-based task that better approximates real-life prosocial behaviour and incorporating trait differences in prosocial tendencies, our study provides important insights into how acute stress affects prosociality and its associated neural mechanisms.

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“…Not taking the moderating role of a person's moral default into account may help explain the mixed results of the effect of stress on moral decisions reported in the literature. In a recent review of 19 studies on the effect of acute stress on moral decisions and prosocial behavior (Faber & Häusser, 2022), seven studies found decreased prosocial behavior under stress (Bendahan et al, 2017;FeldmanHall et al, 2015;Potts et al, 2019;Sollberger et al, 2016;Vinkers et al, 2013;von Dawans et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2021), four reported increased prosocial behavior (Tomova et al, 2017;von Dawans et al, 2012von Dawans et al, , 2019Zhen et al, 2021), five revealed mixed results depending on certain moderators (Margittai et al, 2015;Nickels et al, 2017;Prasad et al, 2017;Schweda et al, 2020;Youssef et al, 2018), and three studies did not find any behavioral differences between stress and control conditions (Schweda et al, 2019;Singer et al, 2021;Veszteg et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of acute stress on dishonesty: the moderating role of moral default

Speer¹,

Martinovici

Smidts³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Life abounds with situations in which we must decide whether to act unethically for personal gain or to be prosocial, thus maintaining a positive image of ourselves as being a ‘good person’. Evidence suggests that acute stress may influence moral decisions and prosocial behavior. However, it is currently unclear whether stress increases or decreases immoral behavior. Here, we hypothesize that stress, through its effects on cognitive control, has different effects on moral decision making for different individuals, depending on their moral default. We test this hypothesis by combining a task which allows for inconspicuously measuring spontaneous cheating with a well-established stress induction task. Our findings confirm our hypothesis, revealing that effects of stress on dishonesty are not uniform, but instead depend on the individual: for those who are relatively dishonest, stress increases dishonesty, whereas for participants who are relatively honest stress does not increase dishonesty and perhaps makes them even slightly more honest. These findings go a long way in resolving the conflicting findings in the literature on the effects of stress on prosocial behavior, suggesting that stress affects prosocial behavior differently for different individuals, depending on their moral default.

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Acute stress does not affect economic behavior in the experimental laboratory

Cited by 11 publications

References 51 publications

Empathy Modulates the Effect of Stress Reactivity on Generous Giving

Empathy Modulates the Effect of Stress Reactivity on Generous Giving

Acute stress reduces effortful prosocial behaviour

The effect of acute stress on dishonesty: the moderating role of moral default

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