Database from the study investigating whether experiencing fair versus unfair treatment influences costly destructive behavior toward an uninvolved third person. Participants first received Experimental Dollars from a previous participant under either a fair (50/50) or unfair (20/80) allocation. They subsequently received an additional budget of 10 Experimental Dollars and decided how many of these dollars to spend to reduce the starting resources of another anonymous participant. Each Experimental Dollar spent reduced the next participant's starting resources by two Experimental Dollars while decreasing the participant's own bonus by one Experimental Dollar.
The database includes 298 complete observations. There are no missing values in the variables included in the public dataset.
The following variables are included:
- participant_id — anonymous participant identifier
- gender — participant gender; 1 = female, 2 = male
- age — participant age in years
- fairness — experimental condition; 1 = fair allocation (50/50), 2 = unfair allocation (20/80)
- costly_decision — costly destructive decision; coded from 1 to 11, where:
- 1 = spent 0 Experimental Dollars (no reduction),
- 2 = spent 1 Experimental Dollar,
- ...
- 11 = spent 10 Experimental Dollars.
- perceived_fairness — perceived fairness of the allocation received from the previous participant; 1–10 scale
Emotional responses to the received allocation
- anger_received — anger
- frustration_received — frustration
- happiness_received — happiness
- sadness_received — sadness
- wronged_received — feeling of being wronged
- satisfaction_received — satisfaction
(all measured on 1–10 scales)
Evaluation after participants' own decision
- perceived_fairness_allocated — perceived fairness of one's own decision; 1–10 scale
Emotional responses after participants' own decision
- anger_allocated — anger
- frustration_allocated — frustration
- happiness_allocated — happiness
- sadness_allocated — sadness
- wronged_allocated — feeling of being wronged
- satisfaction_allocated — satisfaction
(all measured on 1–10 scales)
The study employed a between-subjects experimental design with two conditions (fair vs. unfair allocation). Participants were informed that a previous participant had divided 100 Experimental Dollars between themselves and the participant. In the fair condition, participants allegedly received 50 Experimental Dollars while the allocator kept 50. In the unfair condition, participants allegedly received 20 Experimental Dollars while the allocator kept 80. Participants then received an additional budget of 10 Experimental Dollars that could be spent to reduce the starting resources of another anonymous participant who had not yet taken part in the study. Each Experimental Dollar spent reduced the next participant's resources by two Experimental Dollars, while decreasing the participant's own bonus by one Experimental Dollar. After making this decision, participants evaluated the fairness of both the received allocation and their own decision and reported their emotional responses.
(2026)
