Altruism among students of Economics

Abstract

This study aims to find whether economics students are less altruistic than others. To do so, a number of hypotheses are set and tested using Dictator and Ultimatum Games. In general, the study finds that undergraduate economics students at the University of Malta self-select into the discipline and donate less than others by nature. Using an online survey, participants were asked to envisage a number of scenarios prompting them to donate any amount to an unknown student or to a voluntary organisation of their choice. The effect of economics teaching on students was not found to have a pronounced impact on donation amounts. Furthermore, participants were primed by being asked whether they knew who Adam Smith was and whether they had ever read a famous quote of his. Moreover, the impact of Adam Smith as a messenger of information on participants’ donation amounts was tested for. Overall, results indicated that economics students were more likely to exhibit egoistic behaviour than others.