{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T07:29:44Z","timestamp":1785742184225,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779408000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100019186","name":"HORIZON EUROPE Innovative Europe","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["101095175"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["101095175"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100019186","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100011033","name":"Agencia Estatal de Investigaci\u00f3n","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PID2024-156629NB-I00"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PID2024-156629NB-I00"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100011033","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100016970","name":"Consejer\u00eda de Econom\u00eda, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad, Junta de Andaluc\u00eda","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EMERGIA EMC21_00331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EMERGIA EMC21_00331"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100016970","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int J Game Theory"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    We conducted an online Dictator Game experiment (\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u20091195) to test three hypotheses about the role of monetary incentives in prosocial behavior. First, we examined whether real incentives of \u00a31 reduce the dispersion of responses compared to hypothetical ones. Surprisingly, we found the opposite: hypothetical responses were less dispersed, with choices clustering around the egalitarian split. This pattern held in a replication (\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u2009308) with higher stakes (\u00a35), offering no support for the first hypothesis. Second, we tested whether real incentives\u2014by involving actual monetary consequences\u2014lead to more selfish decisions, as they are expected to reduce socially desirable responses. With \u00a31 stakes, no significant differences emerged across conditions. However, when the stake was increased to \u00a35, participants became more selfish under real incentives, supporting the second hypothesis only when the amount at stake is substantial. Third, we explored whether probabilistic payments trigger differential behavior. At low stakes, probabilistic incentives resembled real ones. But with higher stakes, real and probabilistic outcomes diverged, suggesting participants respond to expected value only when it is meaningful. Finally, in a separate study (\n                    <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2009=\u2009299), we found that many participants facing standard hypothetical-payment instructions still expected real payments. Only explicit phrasing stating that \u201cunfortunately, the money is not real\u201d alleviated this confusion. This result underscores the importance of precise wording in experimental design and potentially explains why hypothetical treatments do not yield dramatically different results compared to real-money treatments.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00182-026-00995-1","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]],"date-time":"2026-05-22T09:26:40Z","timestamp":1779442000000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Paying \u00a31(\u00a35) or nothing in dictator games: unexpected differences"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"55","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8456-6009","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pablo","family":"Bra\u00f1as-Garza","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1174-0771","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio M.","family":"Esp\u00edn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5038-3877","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diego","family":"Jorrat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"995_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1435","DOI":"10.1111\/ajae.12460","volume":"106","author":"A Ahles","year":"2024","unstructured":"Ahles A, Palma MA, Drichoutis AC (2024) Testing the effectiveness of lottery incentives in online experiments. Am J Agric Econ 106(4):1435\u20131453","journal-title":"Am J Agric Econ"},{"issue":"2","key":"995_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e31461","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0031461","volume":"7","author":"O Amir","year":"2012","unstructured":"Amir O, Rand DG, Gal YK (2012) Economic games on the internet: the effect of $1 stakes. PLoS ONE 7(2):e31461","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"issue":"5","key":"995_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1607","DOI":"10.3982\/ECTA7384","volume":"77","author":"J Andreoni","year":"2009","unstructured":"Andreoni J, Bernheim BD (2009) Social image and the 50\u201350 norm: a theoretical and experimental analysis of audience effects. Econometrica 77(5):1607\u20131636","journal-title":"Econometrica"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-017-9527-2","volume":"21","author":"A Arechar","year":"2018","unstructured":"Arechar A, G\u00e4chter S, Molleman L (2018) Conducting interactive experiments online. Exp Econ 21(1):99\u2013131","journal-title":"Exp Econ"},{"key":"995_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1016\/j.beproc.2015.04.003","volume":"115","author":"C Bechler","year":"2015","unstructured":"Bechler C, Green L, Myerson J (2015) Proportion offered in the dictator and ultimatum games decreases with amount and social distance. Behav Process 115:149\u2013155","journal-title":"Behav Process"},{"issue":"5","key":"995_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1775","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socec.2007.11.004","volume":"37","author":"A Ben-Ner","year":"2008","unstructured":"Ben-Ner A, Kramer A, Levy O (2008) Economic and hypothetical dictator game experiments: Incentive effects at the individual level. J Socio Econ 37(5):1775\u20131784","journal-title":"J Socio-Econ"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jebo.2009.05.007","volume":"72","author":"A Ben-Ner","year":"2009","unstructured":"Ben-Ner A, McCall BP, Stephane M, Wang H (2009) Identity and in-group\/out-group differentiation in work and giving behaviors: experimental evidence. J Econ Behav Organ 72(1):153\u2013170","journal-title":"J Econ Behav Organ"},{"issue":"4","key":"995_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e60419","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0060419","volume":"8","author":"P Bra\u00f1as-Garza","year":"2013","unstructured":"Bra\u00f1as-Garza P, Kov\u00e1r\u00edk J, Neyse L (2013) Second-to-fourth digit ratio has a non-monotonic impact on altruism. PLoS ONE 8(4):e60419","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"995_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econlet.2018.05.022","volume":"170","author":"P Bra\u00f1as-Garza","year":"2018","unstructured":"Bra\u00f1as-Garza P, Capraro V, Rasc\u00f3n-Ram\u00edrez (2018) Gender differences in altruism on mechanical Turk: expectations and actual behaviour. Econ Lett 170:19\u201323","journal-title":"Econ Lett"},{"issue":"5","key":"995_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1290","DOI":"10.1017\/S1930297500008433","volume":"16","author":"P Bra\u00f1as-Garza","year":"2021","unstructured":"Bra\u00f1as-Garza P, Estepa-Mohedano L, Jorrat D, Orozco V, Rasc\u00f3n-Ram\u00edrez E (2021a) To pay or not to pay: measuring risk preferences in lab and field. Judgm Decis Mak 16(5):1290\u20131313","journal-title":"Judgm Decis Mak"},{"issue":"8","key":"995_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0255668","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0255668","volume":"16","author":"P Bra\u00f1as-Garza","year":"2021","unstructured":"Bra\u00f1as-Garza P, Jorrat D, Kovarik J, L\u00f3pez MC (2021b) Hyper-altruistic behavior vanishes with high stakes. PLoS ONE 16(8):e0255668","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"key":"995_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"412","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-022-09776-5","volume":"26","author":"P Bra\u00f1as-Garza","year":"2023","unstructured":"Bra\u00f1as-Garza P, Jorrat D, Esp\u00edn AM, S\u00e1nchez A (2023) Paid and hypothetical time preferences are the same: lab, field and online evidence. Exp Econ 26:412\u2013434","journal-title":"Exp Econ"},{"issue":"2","key":"995_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1017\/S1930297500003946","volume":"10","author":"C B\u00fchren","year":"2015","unstructured":"B\u00fchren C, Kundt T (2015) Imagine being a nice guy: A note on hypothetical vs. incentivized social preferences. Judgm Decis Mak 10(2):185\u2013190","journal-title":"Judgm Decis Mak"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1007850605129","volume":"19","author":"CF Camerer","year":"1999","unstructured":"Camerer CF, Hogarth RM (1999) The effects of financial incentives in experiments: a review and capital-labor-production framework. J Risk Uncertain 19(1):7\u201342","journal-title":"J Risk Uncertain"},{"issue":"3","key":"995_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"393","DOI":"10.1016\/j.econlet.2004.08.007","volume":"86","author":"J Carpenter","year":"2005","unstructured":"Carpenter J, Verhoogen E, Burks S (2005) The effect of stakes in distribution experiments. Econ Lett 86(3):393\u2013398","journal-title":"Econ Lett"},{"key":"995_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jebo.2016.08.010","volume":"131","author":"G Charness","year":"2016","unstructured":"Charness G, Gneezy U, Halladay B (2016) Experimental methods: pay one or pay all. J Econ Behav Organ 131:141\u2013150","journal-title":"J Econ Behav Organ"},{"key":"995_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socec.2018.01.004","volume":"73","author":"S Clot","year":"2018","unstructured":"Clot S, Grolleau G, Ibanez L (2018) Shall we pay all? An experimental test of random incentivized systems. J Behav Exp Econ 73:93\u201398","journal-title":"J Behav Experimental Econ"},{"key":"995_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1009986005690","volume":"2","author":"M Coller","year":"1999","unstructured":"Coller M, Williams MB (1999) Eliciting individual discount rates. Exp Econ 2:107\u2013127","journal-title":"Exp Econ"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"67","DOI":"10.1007\/s00199-006-0153-z","volume":"33","author":"J Dana","year":"2007","unstructured":"Dana J, Weber RA, Kuang JX (2007) Exploiting moral wiggle room: experiments demonstrating an illusory preference for fairness. Econ Theor 33(1):67\u201380","journal-title":"Econ Theor"},{"issue":"4","key":"995_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"583","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-011-9283-7","volume":"14","author":"C Engel","year":"2011","unstructured":"Engel C (2011) Dictator games: a meta study. Exp Econ 14(4):583\u2013610","journal-title":"Exp Econ"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/srep01213","volume":"3","author":"F Exadaktylos","year":"2013","unstructured":"Exadaktylos F, Esp\u00edn AM, Bra\u00f1as-Garza P (2013) Experimental subjects are not different. Sci Rep 3(1):1\u20136","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"995_CR23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1006\/game.1994.1021","volume":"6","author":"R Forsythe","year":"1994","unstructured":"Forsythe R, Horowitz JL, Savin NE, Sefton M (1994) Fairness in simple bargaining experiments. Games Econ Behav 6:347\u2013369","journal-title":"Games Econ Behav"},{"issue":"3","key":"995_CR24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"791","DOI":"10.1162\/003355300554917","volume":"115","author":"U Gneezy","year":"2000","unstructured":"Gneezy U, Rustichini A (2000) Pay enough or don\u2019t pay at all. Q J Econ 115(3):791\u2013810","journal-title":"Q J Econ"},{"key":"995_CR25","unstructured":"Grossman PJ, Zhan W, Eckel CC (2020) Does how we measure altruism matter? Playing both roles in dictator games. Mimeo"},{"issue":"5","key":"995_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"714","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socec.2012.07.002","volume":"41","author":"P Guill\u00e9n","year":"2012","unstructured":"Guill\u00e9n P, Veszteg RF (2012) On lab rats. J Socio Econ 41(5):714\u2013720","journal-title":"J Socio-Econ"},{"issue":"5","key":"995_CR27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1644","DOI":"10.1257\/000282802762024700","volume":"92","author":"CA Holt","year":"2002","unstructured":"Holt CA, Laury SK (2002) Risk aversion and incentive effects. Am Econ Rev 92(5):1644\u20131655","journal-title":"Am Econ Rev"},{"issue":"3","key":"995_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-011-9273-9","volume":"14","author":"JJ Horton","year":"2011","unstructured":"Horton JJ, Rand DG, Zeckhauser RJ (2011) The online laboratory: conducting experiments in a real labor market. Exp Econ 14(3):399\u2013425","journal-title":"Exp Econ"},{"issue":"2","key":"995_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.1901\/jeab.2002.77-129","volume":"77","author":"MW Johnson","year":"2002","unstructured":"Johnson MW, Bickel WK (2002) Within-subject comparison of real and hypothetical money rewards in delay discounting. J Anal Behav 77(2):129\u2013146","journal-title":"J Anal Behav"},{"issue":"4","key":"995_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1747","DOI":"10.1093\/qje\/qjz023","volume":"134","author":"D Jones","year":"2019","unstructured":"Jones D, Molitor D, Reif J (2019) What do workplace wellness programs do? Evidence from the Illinois workplace wellness study. Q J Econ 134(4):1747\u20131791","journal-title":"Q J Econ"},{"key":"995_CR31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.1016\/j.obhdp.2019.01.002","volume":"151","author":"A Larney","year":"2019","unstructured":"Larney A, Rotella A, Barclay P (2019) Stake size effects in ultimatum game and dictator game offers: a meta-analysis. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 151:61\u201372","journal-title":"Organ Behav Hum Decis Process"},{"issue":"6","key":"995_CR32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"552","DOI":"10.1017\/S1930297500002515","volume":"6","author":"ML Locey","year":"2011","unstructured":"Locey ML, Jones BA, Rachlin H (2011) Real and hypothetical rewards in self-control and social discounting. Judgm Decis Mak 6(6):552\u2013564","journal-title":"Judgm Decis Mak"},{"key":"995_CR33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"22","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jbef.2017.12.004","volume":"17","author":"S Palan","year":"2018","unstructured":"Palan S, Schitter C (2018) Prolific. ac\u2014a subject pool for online experiments. J Behav Exp Finance 17:22\u201327","journal-title":"J Behav Experimental Finance"},{"issue":"3","key":"995_CR34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"184","DOI":"10.1177\/0963721414531598","volume":"23","author":"G Paolacci","year":"2014","unstructured":"Paolacci G, Chandler J (2014) Inside the Turk: understanding mechanical Turk as a participant pool. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 23(3):184\u2013188","journal-title":"Curr Dir Psychol Sci"},{"key":"995_CR35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101910","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socec.2022.101910","volume":"100","author":"B Priss\u00e9","year":"2022","unstructured":"Priss\u00e9 B, Jorrat D (2022) Lab vs online experiments: no differences. J Behav Exp Econ 100:101910","journal-title":"J Behav Experimental Econ"},{"key":"995_CR36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtbi.2011.03.004","volume":"299","author":"DG Rand","year":"2012","unstructured":"Rand DG (2012) The promise of mechanical Turk: how online labor markets can help theorists run behavioral experiments. J Theor Biol 299:172\u2013179","journal-title":"J Theor Biol"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-011-9294-4","volume":"15","author":"M Rosenboim","year":"2012","unstructured":"Rosenboim M, Shavit T (2012) Whose money is it anyway? Using prepaid incentives in experimental economics to create a natural environment. Exp Econ 15(1):145\u2013157","journal-title":"Exp Econ"},{"issue":"2","key":"995_CR38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1016\/0167-4870(92)90033-4","volume":"13","author":"M Sefton","year":"1992","unstructured":"Sefton M (1992) Incentives in simple bargaining games. J Econ Psychol 13(2):263\u2013276","journal-title":"J Econ Psychol"},{"issue":"5","key":"995_CR39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"527","DOI":"10.1017\/S1930297500004605","volume":"11","author":"I Thielmann","year":"2016","unstructured":"Thielmann I, Heck DW, Hilbig BE (2016) Anonymity and incentives: an investigation of techniques to reduce socially desirable responding in the Trust Game. Judgm Decis Mak 11(5):527\u2013536","journal-title":"Judgm Decis Mak"},{"key":"995_CR40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102608","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joep.2023.102608","volume":"96","author":"H Umer","year":"2023","unstructured":"Umer H (2023) Effectiveness of random payment in experiments: a meta-analysis of dictator games. J Econ Psychol 96:102608","journal-title":"J Econ Psychol"},{"key":"995_CR41","unstructured":"Westfall PH, Young SS (1993) Resampling-based multiple testing: examples and methods for p-value adjustment. John Wiley & Sons Inc, New York"},{"issue":"1","key":"995_CR42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"75","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-009-9230-z","volume":"13","author":"DJ Zizzo","year":"2010","unstructured":"Zizzo DJ (2010) Experimenter demand effects in economic experiments. Exp Econ 13(1):75\u201398","journal-title":"Exp Econ"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Game Theory"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s00182-026-00995-1.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s00182-026-00995-1","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s00182-026-00995-1.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,25]],"date-time":"2026-06-25T08:39:48Z","timestamp":1782376788000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s00182-026-00995-1"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"references-count":41,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]}},"alternative-id":["995"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00182-026-00995-1","relation":{},"ISSN":["0020-7276","1432-1270"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0020-7276","type":"print"},{"value":"1432-1270","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,22]]},"assertion":[{"value":"11 November 2024","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"17 March 2026","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"22 May 2026","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The authors declare no conflicts of interest.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflict of interest"}}],"article-number":"27"}}