E Helping Game could spend up to the complete 50 points to
E Assisting Game could spend up to the full 50 points to assist the recipient A-1155463 cost independent on the dictator’s choice. Since compassion is evoked by unfair treatment [6], we analyzed participants who witnessed an unfair dictator transfer ( 25 ) separately from participants who witnessed a fair or generous dictator transfer ( 50 ). Unfair offers happen to be similarly defined in other financial decisionmaking studies [39,40]. Individual variations with trait empathic concern. To test irrespective of whether trait empathic concern is linked with altruistic punishment andor altruistic helping, we correlated selfreported empathic concern with behavior inside the two samples in each the unfair (dictator spends 25 ) and fairgenerous situations (dictator spends 50 ). As an exploratory test within the altruistic punishment game, we also correlated trait compassion with punishment behavior inside the participants who decided to punish at all (referred to as the Punishers, spent 0 points). We additional split the sample into Prosocial Punishers and Antisocial Punishers primarily based on their behavior as the dictator [2], and examined irrespective of whether trait empathic concern was correlated with punishment in every group. Prosocial Punishers have been defined as those who behaved fairlygenerously when playing as the dictator (spent 50 ), and they may punish primarily based on prosocial motives of enforcing the fairness norm and consequently show a positive correlation involving empathic concern and punishment. Antisocial Punishers were defined as those who behaved unfairly when playing as the dictator (spent 25 ), and they may punish primarily based on antisocial motives (for example anger or envy) and show a negative correlation among empathic concern and punishment.PLOS A single DOI:0.37journal.pone.043794 December 0,eight Compassion and AltruismControlling for confounding variables. The thirdparty responses could possibly be influenced by confounding variables of social desirability, common prosocial behavior (as PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25669486 indicated by transfers created when participants played because the dictator), household income, previous earnings or punishment inside the game ahead of playing as the third party, and present mood (state positive or damaging have an effect on). To establish that compassion predicts altruistic behavior more than and above the confounding variables, we applied hierarchical linear regression modeling. On the very first step, we entered measures of social desirability, common prosocial behavior (behavior when the participant played because the dictator), household revenue, prior knowledge in the game (total earnings and punishment percentage prior to playing because the third celebration), and present positive and unfavorable impact. On the second step, we entered trait empathic concern. Within the Punishment Game, due to the connection found inside the preceding zeroorder correlation test, this test was performed inside the Punishers subgroup (spent 0 points) only. Comparing empathic concernbehavior relationships between games. Following determining the relationship with empathic concern within the Punishment and Assisting Games, we tested no matter if the relationships had been significantly various from one another using the Fisher rtoz transformation as well as a hierarchical linear regression model that controlled for substantial confounding components. Because a partnership with empathic concern was found inside the Punishers only, these tests had been only performed inside the Punishers. Additionally, we wanted to figure out irrespective of whether the relationship with compassion in the Redistribution Game significantly differe.