Nice Guys Finish Last? The Effect of Lay Theories on Prosocial Actors’ Motivation and Future Benefits

Abstract

Lin-Healy and Small found that laypeople believed that selfless prosocial actors were less likely than their selfish counterparts to benefit from their acts—that is, “nice guys finish last” (Study 1). The purpose of the current research was to replicate and extend their results. Our first three studies asked laypeople to estimate selfless or selfish prosocial actors’ future benefits. Inconsistent with the original results, we found that both Eastern and Western laypeople believed that selfless actors were more likely to benefit than selfish actors (Studies 1 and 2), and the belief in a just world moderated this effect (Study 3). Study 4 asked participants to choose an agent among three prosocial actors with different motivations to gamble for a monetary reward. The results showed that laypeople were more likely to choose a selfless agent to make the bet. The findings indicate that laypeople believe that authentic altruistic actors obtain future benefits.