Consistent Kindness: Money Allocation and Kind Act Decisions Are Regulated by a 'Welfare Trade-Off Ratio'

Is kindness regulated by a cost-benefit ratio? Previous research suggests that money allocation decisions are regulated by a 'welfare trade-off ratio' (WTR) that reflects the weight attached to the actor's welfare relative to the recipient's welfare. Here we replicate this research, and extend it by creating a new measure-The Kindness Questionnaire-which asks which real-world acts of kindness, previously rated for cost and benefit, participants would perform for others. In Study 1 (n = 6,601) money allocation (MA) and Kindness Questionnaire (KQ) decisions for family, friends, colleagues and strangers were highly consistent with an underlying WTR (similar to 92%); more consistent than would be expected by chance; and generally more consistent than with cost or benefit alone. WTRs were high (similar to 0.81); and, for money allocation, declined with social distance. In Study 2 (n = 8,492) MA and KQ decisions for neighbors were highly consistent with an underlying WTR (similar to 89%); more consistent than would be expected by chance; and generally more consistent than with cost or benefit alone. WTRs were high (similar to 0.75). In both studies, The Kindness Questionnaires showed good convergent, divergent and incremental validity. These studies corroborate 'welfare tradeoff ratio' theory, establish proof of principle for a new way of measuring kindness, and provide new tools for measuring kindness to colleagues, strangers and neighbors.