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 language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 112856 |
| Journal | Economics Letters |
| Volume | 261 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2026 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Free Keywords
- Dictator game
- In-group bias
- Moral universalism
- Trust game
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Finance
- Economics and Econometrics
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