Material Scarcity and Unethical Economic Behavior: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

TY - ABST

T1 - Material Scarcity and Unethical Economic Behavior: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

AU - Elbæk, Christian Truelsen

AU - Mitkidis, Panagiotis

AU - Aarøe, Lene

AU - Otterbring, Tobias

PY - 2022/9

Y1 - 2022/9

N2 - Individuals around the globe experience different forms of resource scarcity. As experiences of scarcity has been found to make individuals more risk-taking and focused on regaining resources in the short-term, a growing body of research has investigated how scarcity affects moral economic behavior. Yet, findings remain mixed and at times contradictory. In this pre-registered meta-analysis, we evaluate how material resource scarcity affects moral economic behavior. We analyze a comprehensive dataset (k = 44, N = 6,921) across four distinct types of scarcity: financial scarcity, physiological scarcity, scarcity reminders, and lower social class. Our findings show that acute scarcity significantly increases the propensity to engage in unethical behavior (g_financial = .24, g_physiological = .39, g_reminders = .32). Importantly, we find no evidence that low social class affect unethical behavior (g_social class = .02). We discuss how these findings advance our understanding of the psychological and moral consequences of scarcity.

AB - Individuals around the globe experience different forms of resource scarcity. As experiences of scarcity has been found to make individuals more risk-taking and focused on regaining resources in the short-term, a growing body of research has investigated how scarcity affects moral economic behavior. Yet, findings remain mixed and at times contradictory. In this pre-registered meta-analysis, we evaluate how material resource scarcity affects moral economic behavior. We analyze a comprehensive dataset (k = 44, N = 6,921) across four distinct types of scarcity: financial scarcity, physiological scarcity, scarcity reminders, and lower social class. Our findings show that acute scarcity significantly increases the propensity to engage in unethical behavior (g_financial = .24, g_physiological = .39, g_reminders = .32). Importantly, we find no evidence that low social class affect unethical behavior (g_social class = .02). We discuss how these findings advance our understanding of the psychological and moral consequences of scarcity.

M3 - Conference abstract for conference

T2 - Society for Judgment and Decision-Making Annual Meeting 2022

Y2 - 10 November 2022 through 13 November 2022

ER -