Predicting Altruistic Behaviour by the Benefactor-Beneficiary Relationship

Abstract

The evolution of altruism—costly behaviour by an individual (the benefactor) that benefits another individual (the beneficiary)—has been theorized as a function of kinship, reciprocity potential, shared group membership, and costly signalling. These benefactor-beneficiary relationships have predictive value for real-life altruistic acts. J. A. Palmer designed the Costly Signals Questionnaire (CSQ) to measure participants’ level of support for altruistic acts performed under the varying conditions of (1) close kin, (2) person who can reciprocate, (3) group co-members, and (4) anonymous strangers (representing costly signalling theory). After signing consent forms, participants (n = 465) were given an opportunity to perform an altruistic act anonymously (donate valuable raffle tickets) and then completed the CSQ and measures of altruism, empathy, and religiosity. Statistical analyses support CSQ reliability and revealed that the CSQ significantly predicted altruistic action; the other measures did not (although they significantly correlated with the CSQ). Participants’ support for altruistic acts ranked significantly from strongest to weakest: kin-based > reciprocity > shared group > anonymous stranger. The CSQ appears to be a reliable, valid instrument for predicting altruistic action and measuring support of altruism based on benefactor-beneficiary relationships per evolutionary theory.