Landmark study reveals whether men or women are more generous

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One of the largest studies of its kind has revealed a key difference in how generous men and women are.

Women were characterised as significantly more generous than men, according to research published in PLOS One.

The study involved more than 1,000 adults who took part in a study based on “the dictator game”, often used in experiments by psychologists and economists.

The experiment saw a player - filling the role of the “dictator” - given €10 (£8.30) and asked how much they would like to share with a second player, who was chosen at random from a pool of participants.

The dictators did not know who they were paired with or if the recipient was male or female, but they were told that when it was their turn to be the recipient, they would be placed with a different person, which lessened the chance of decisions being influenced by reciprocity.

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On average, research found women age away more than men - in fact, the most common decision from men was to not share anything with their partner, while women tended to split the money 50-50.

Women gave away 40 per cent more than men on average, tending to give €3.50 while men gave €2.50.

The researchers said the gender differences were mediated by reasoning ability, personality traits and emotions.

They found two character traits positively influenced generosity: openness, related to curiosity and tolerance to change, and agreeableness, related to empathy.

Women who showed a stronger reasoning ability were linked to being less generous, the research observed.

Professor Marina Pavan, of Jaume I University in Spain, who co-authored the research, said the results had taken the team by surprise, according to The Times.

“What surprised us was the relatively big difference in giving between men and women,” she said.

She attributed the findings to the sheer size of the experiment, as she explained “Most existing studies showed small or no differences in generosity between genders, but did not have the number of observations we have.”

According to Professor Pavan, the experiments had shone a light on a positive part of human nature.

“In this game, given that the recipient is anonymous and does not have any say in the proponent’s decision. According to standard economic theory we would expect people not to transfer anything,” she said.

“However, surprisingly, they do — that is why we use this game to measure ‘altruism’.”