SynthesisNature human behaviour2023
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between economic inequality and prosocial behaviour.
Synthesis in Nature human behaviour, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological and behavioural responses in human-agent vs. human-human interactions.Communications psychology · 2026Article
- Perceived economic inequality is linked to poorer sleep quality.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- The Impact of Increasing Subjective Economic Inequality on Prosocial Behavior Development: The Longitudinal Mediating Effect of Trust and Moderating Effect of Socioeconomic Status.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2025Article
- Longitudinal associations between youth prosocial behavior and dimensions of psychopathology.JCPP advances · 2025Article
- Variations in character involving an orientation to promote good across sociodemographic groups in 22 countries.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The burden of acute respiratory infection in children under 5 attributable to economic inequality in low- and middle-income countries.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- A manifesto for a globally diverse, equitable, and inclusive open science.Communications psychology · 2025Review
- Competing fairness ideals underlie wealth inequality across decision contexts.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- High economic inequality is linked to greater moralization.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Prosocial emotions predict individual differences in economic decision-making during ultimatum game with dynamic reciprocal contexts.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Social Media and Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior: Evidence of the Interaction Between Short Videos and Social Value Orientation.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
How does economic inequality relate to prosocial behaviour? Existing theories and empirical studies from multiple disciplines have produced mixed results. Here we conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to systematically synthesize empirical studies. Results from 192 effect sizes and over 2.5 million observations in 100 studies show that the relationship varies from being negative to positive depending upon the study (95% prediction interval -0.450 to 0.343). However, on average, there is a small, negative relationship between economic inequality and prosocial behaviour (r = -0.064, P = 0.004, 95% confidence interval -0.106 to -0.021). There is generally no evidence that results depend upon characteristics of the studies, participants, the way prosocial behaviour and inequality were assessed, and the publication discipline. Given the prevalence of economic inequality and the importance of prosocial behaviour, this systematic review and meta-analysis provides a timely study on the relationship between economic inequality and prosocial behaviour.
Indexed as
Identifiers
37563303What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.