Alcohol Expenditure, Generosity and Empathy

Abstract

Existing studies suggest that alcohol dependency (or recovery from alcohol dependency) is associated with lower levels of empathy and generosity. We present results from a charitable donation experiment which shows that in a student population, higher levels of alcohol expenditure are associated with significantly less generosity. However, there is no significant association between alcohol expenditure and empathy (as measured by the Empathy Quotient Scale), which suggests that the relationship between alcohol expenditure on generosity is mediated through some other channel.