Delayed Negative Effects of Prosocial Spending on Happiness

The data were collected in a behavioral choice experiment with a total of N = 591 student participants at the BonnEconLab of the University of Bonn, Germany, in September 2016. In the main sample, Lottery Choice (N = 325), subjects chose between two lotteries, Lottery A (with probability 60%: save a human life in expectation by triggering a donation of 350 euros; with probability 40%: receive 100 euros) and Lottery B (with probability 40%: save a human life in expectation by triggering a donation of 350 euros; with probability 60%: receive 100 euros). In a control condition, Deterministic Choice (N = 221), participants directly decided between saving the human life in expectation and receiving the money. In a third treatment condition, the Calibration Sample (N = 45), the authors elicited the minimal monetary amount that would make a participant indifferent to saving a life in expectation. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Economics Department at the University of Bonn (reference no. 2016-02), and all subjects provided informed consent before participating.