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Moral universalism: Incentivised evidence

  • Tom Lane

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

Abstract

There has been a recent surge in interest among economists in moral universalism, the extent to which individuals treat in-groups and out-groups equally in altruism and trust. I provide novel incentivised evidence, adding to the literature which has relied on survey-based measurements of universalism. Using data from dictator and trust games involving 17 identity groups across five dimensions, I find broad consistency with existing studies: universalism varies widely across individuals and is moderately stable across contexts. Relative to previous research, however, I observe weaker stability in universalism across identity dimensions and some differences in its predictor variables.

Original languageEnglish
Article number112856
JournalEconomics Letters
Volume261
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2026
Externally publishedYes

Free Keywords

  • Dictator game
  • In-group bias
  • Moral universalism
  • Trust game

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics

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