People are significantly more selfish with money than they are with food, time, or physical space.
April 24, 2026
Original Paper
Resource-Specific Generosity
PsyArXiv · xvf27_v2
The Takeaway
Generosity is not a stable personality trait, but a behavior that changes depending on what is being given away. Most psychological models assume that a giving person will be generous across different contexts. This research found that the fungibility of money makes individuals much less likely to share it compared to other resources. While someone might be happy to donate an hour of their time or share a meal, they become notably more protective of the equivalent value in cash. Money's versatility seems to trigger a more calculative and self-interested mindset that suppresses natural charitable impulses.
From the abstract
This paper shows that people are less generous with money compared to other resources. In multiple dictator game studies involving allocations of fixed sums between self and other, people allocated a lower proportion of money to others compared to other resources (food, goods, space, time). This effect generalized across adult participants in France and the U.S., real and hypothetical allocations, and when people allocated one or multiple resources. On average, people allocated 36% of their endo