Gathering Wood for a Brighter Flame: How Group Altruism Promotes Conspicuous Altruism

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.0976

Acta Psychologica Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 58 ›› Issue (5): 976-994.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2026.0976

• Reports of Empirical Studies • Previous Articles Next Articles

Gathering Wood for a Brighter Flame: How Group Altruism Promotes Conspicuous Altruism

WANG Tianhong¹^,², XIE Xiaofei²()

¹School of Philosophy, Anhui University, Hefei 230039, China
²School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, and Key Laboratory of Machine Perception (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Published:2026-05-25 Online:2026-03-05
Contact: XIE Xiaofei, E-mail: xiaofei@pku.edu.cn

Abstract

WANG Tianhong, XIE Xiaofei. (2026). Gathering Wood for a Brighter Flame: How Group Altruism Promotes Conspicuous Altruism. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 58(5), 976-994.

Study	Scenario	Condition	Mean	SD	n	Cohen’s d and 95% CI
1a	Tutoring support	Individual altruism	5.69	1.33	100	?0.39, [?0.67, ?0.11]
		Group altruism	6.12	0.81	100
1b	Monthly donation	Individual altruism	5.20	1.56	125	?0.40, [?0.66, ?0.15]
		Group altruism	5.74	1.03	125
1c	Elder care volunteering	Individual altruism	5.29	1.30	120	?0.34, [?0.59, ?0.08]
		Group altruism	5.70	1.15	120
4a	Tutoring support	Individual altruism	5.85	0.86	94	?0.55, [?0.83, ?0.27]
		Group altruism	6.25	0.56	117
4b	Monthly donation	Individual altruism	5.18	1.17	96	?0.83, [?1.13, ?0.52]
		Group altruism	5.99	0.76	101
5	Real volunteers	Without group activity	4.30	1.65	42	?0.94, [?1.31, ?0.57]
	(Psychological support)	With group activity	5.53	1.17	109
6a	Monetary donation × GPT-3.5	Individual altruism	4.97	2.13	39	?0.52, [?0.97, ?0.06]
		Group altruism	6.03	1.94	40
6a	Monetary donation × GPT-4o	Individual altruism	5.33	0.47	40	?0.57, [?1.02, ?0.11]
		Group altruism	5.60	0.50	40
6a	Blood donation × GPT-3.5	Individual altruism	4.03	2.34	40	?0.85, [?1.34, ?0.36]
		Group altruism	5.81	1.79	37
6a	Blood donation × GPT-4o	Individual altruism	5.47	0.55	40	?0.85, [?1.32, ?0.37]
		Group altruism	5.90	0.44	40
6b	Blood donation × GPT-4o	Individual altruism	4.35	0.59	20	?0.89, [?1.53, ?0.23]
	(Phase 1)	Group altruism	4.80	0.41	20

Study	Scenario	Condition	Mean	SD	n	Cohen’s d and 95% CI
1a	Tutoring support	Individual altruism	5.69	1.33	100	?0.39, [?0.67, ?0.11]
		Group altruism	6.12	0.81	100
1b	Monthly donation	Individual altruism	5.20	1.56	125	?0.40, [?0.66, ?0.15]
		Group altruism	5.74	1.03	125
1c	Elder care volunteering	Individual altruism	5.29	1.30	120	?0.34, [?0.59, ?0.08]
		Group altruism	5.70	1.15	120
4a	Tutoring support	Individual altruism	5.85	0.86	94	?0.55, [?0.83, ?0.27]
		Group altruism	6.25	0.56	117
4b	Monthly donation	Individual altruism	5.18	1.17	96	?0.83, [?1.13, ?0.52]
		Group altruism	5.99	0.76	101
5	Real volunteers	Without group activity	4.30	1.65	42	?0.94, [?1.31, ?0.57]
	(Psychological support)	With group activity	5.53	1.17	109
6a	Monetary donation × GPT-3.5	Individual altruism	4.97	2.13	39	?0.52, [?0.97, ?0.06]
		Group altruism	6.03	1.94	40
6a	Monetary donation × GPT-4o	Individual altruism	5.33	0.47	40	?0.57, [?1.02, ?0.11]
		Group altruism	5.60	0.50	40
6a	Blood donation × GPT-3.5	Individual altruism	4.03	2.34	40	?0.85, [?1.34, ?0.36]
		Group altruism	5.81	1.79	37
6a	Blood donation × GPT-4o	Individual altruism	5.47	0.55	40	?0.85, [?1.32, ?0.37]
		Group altruism	5.90	0.44	40
6b	Blood donation × GPT-4o	Individual altruism	4.35	0.59	20	?0.89, [?1.53, ?0.23]
	(Phase 1)	Group altruism	4.80	0.41	20

Gathering Wood for a Brighter Flame: How Group Altruism Promotes Conspicuous Altruism

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