Implicit Attitudes of Chinese University Students towards Altruism: Evidence from Single Category Implicit Association Test

Abstract

IAT measures are supposed to be able to remove the effects that come from people’s natural tendency to believe that they have socially desirable traits. In the present study, the Single Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT) was used to explore implicit attitudes and self-images of Chinese university students with respect to altruism. Three kinds of altruism (general altruism, kin altruism and reciprocal altruism) were considered to detect the participants’ implicit attitudes and self-images. Specific wording was incorporated in the SC-IAT measures to explore whether the students believed that apparent altruism in others was honest or hypocritical. The results show: 1) Chinese students generally hold positive implicit attitudes towards kin, reciprocal, and general altruism, but the positive attitudes towards reciprocal and kin altruism are significantly stronger than towards general altruism. 2) Chinese students regard themselves neither as altruistic nor selfish in their implicit self-concepts. 3) Chinese students tend to judge altruism as honest rather than hypocritical behavior, especially in the cases of kin and reciprocal altruism.