Covid-19 and altruism: a meta-analysis of dictator games

Many growing studies have examined the impact of Covid-19 on altruism; the results, however, are divergent. This study synthesizes the rapidly expanding literature and performs a meta-analysis based on 24 dictator game studies reporting data collected after the start of the pandemic to examine whether Covid-19 framing and Covid-19-related recipients significantly impact altruism compared to neutral frame and non-Covid-19 recipients, respectively. Overall, the dictators donate about 42% of their endowment and depict relatively higher altruism when compared with other meta-analyses that used pre-pandemic studies. I also find that the Covid-19 and neutral frames lead to identical altruism. However, the dictators donate a higher fraction of endowment (about 6–9% higher) to the Covid-19-related recipients compared to those unrelated to Covid-19. These findings will provide helpful guidelines for future experiments focusing on the interplay of pandemic and altruism.