For Us or for Him? How Conflicts Shape Perceptions of Altruism

Altruism is defined as helping another at a cost to oneself (Zak, Stanton, & Ahmadi, 2007). But are altruistic behaviors always perceived as such? In two studies we show that intergroup conflict shapes the perceptions of altruistic behavior. In study 1 (N=139) the participants judged behaviors of either fellow ingroup members, neutral outgroup members or adversary outgroup members. As hypothesized – the participants, as perceivers, judged the behavior of ingroup actors as more altruistic in comparison to the behavior of outgroup actors. The difference was more pronounced comparing ingroup actors to adversary outgroup actors. In study 2 (N=103) the findings replicated with a different adversary outgroup. The study further presents the notion of social target attributions as a mediator of the association between group identity and perceptions of altruism.