No moral wiggles in e5 and e1,000 dictator games under ambiguity

Abstract

This paper explores excuse-driven behavior in giving. In our powered laboratory experiment, participants play Dictator Games sharing 5e or 1,000e under certainty or ambiguity with a charity. In contrast to previous papers using MPLs –that necessarily introduce additional layers of uncertainty–our subjects participate in two DGs. We find no evidence that people use moral wiggles to hide their selfishness. They share equally out of 5e under certainty and ambiguity and as much out of 1,000e under ambiguity as they do under certainty in the previous literature. These findings raise the question whether previous results might be an artifact.