Do agreeableness and social value orientation predict altruistic behavior under time pressure?

Abstract

Although time pressure is closely related to altruistic behavior, there is relatively little research on whether altruistic traits can predict altruistic behavior under time pressure. Using a modified dictator game paradigm, we investigated whether the altruistic traits of agreeableness and social value orientation could predict altruistic behavior under time pressure. We recruited 120 participants for the main study and used a one-factor within-subjects design in which respondents made decisions about allocation of 10 yuan and 100 yuan options under time pressure. Results show that although agreeableness negatively predicted altruistic behavior, and social value orientation positively predicted altruistic behavior under time pressure, these traits were not significantly related to real-life altruistic behavior. Thus, the two altruistic traits differed in their effects on altruistic behavior under intuitive processing, and there were different psychological mechanisms for the effects of the traits on altruistic behavior.