Dictator Game

Frequently Asked Questions

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What is the Dictator Game?

A classic behavioral economics task where one player unilaterally allocates a fixed endowment to a passive recipient. It is widely used to explore sharing behavior and fairness.

How do I play?

Each round the endowment is drawn at random from 20, 50, or 100 tokens. Use the slider to allocate any share of it to the other party and click Submit. There are 20 rounds and each allocation is recorded.

Which metrics are reported?

The primary metric is the allocation rate (mean share of each round's endowment given to the other party), followed by the average tokens given. The total self payoff is a hypothetical sum across demo rounds, not a real reward, plus the full per-round record.

Export and privacy

CSV/JSON export is supported. Files contain only task data and timestamps, with no personal identifiers.

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About this experiment

The Dictator Game is a famous paradigm in social psychology and economics. It explores sharing behavior. One person (the Dictator) decides how to split a sum of resources with another person (the Recipient). The Recipient has no say and must accept whatever is offered.

How to Play

You will be given a sum of tokens. You must decide how much to keep for yourself and how much to give to a hypothetical recipient. The recipient is passive and cannot reject your offer.

References

  • Forsythe, R., Horowitz, J. L., Savin, N. E., & Sefton, M. (1994). Fairness in simple bargaining experiments. Games and Economic Behavior, 6(3), 347-369. 10.1006/game.1994.1021
  • Hoffman, E., McCabe, K., Shachat, K., & Smith, V. (1996). Social distance and other-regarding behavior in dictator games. The Economic Journal, 106(444), 654-660.
  • Engel, C. (2011). Dictator games: A meta study. Experimental Economics, 14(4), 583-610.

About This Experiment

This experiment is an educational adaptation for demonstration purposes. It is not a clinical diagnostic tool. Results reflect your performance in this specific session and should not be interpreted as an assessment of your cognitive abilities.

Data Privacy

Your experiment data is processed and stored locally in your browser. No data is uploaded to any server unless you explicitly export it.

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