Locus of control and other-regarding behavior: Experimental evidence from a large heterogeneous sample

This paper investigates the relationship between locus of control and other-regarding behavior in a large and heterogeneous sample of the French population. We relate locus of control with incentivized measures of other-regarding behavior in the dictator and ultimatum games. Participants with high internal locus of control offer comparatively less in situations with passive responders (dictator game) but tend to increase their offers when their counterparts have veto power (ultimatum game). Moreover, they appear better at anticipating responders’ behavior in the ultimatum game, which leads to offers with a higher probability of acceptance and higher expected payoff. Some results for the ultimatum game, however, are sensitive to model specification and sample composition. Our findings suggest that a high internal locus of control increases individuals’ ability to adapt to strategic and non-strategic settings.