Testing a Shortened Version of the AlAn's Game

Testing a Shortened Version of the AlAn's Game, Which Can be Delivered Through REDCap, in a Sample of Emerging Adults

It has been demonstrated that behavior on the AlAn's (altruism-antisocial) game is related to Moral Elevation response. Moral Elevation is a positive response to another's act of generosity "of charity, gratitude, fidelity, generosity or any other strong display of virtue". The constellation of emotional, physical and psychological aspects of a Moral Elevation response have been well described. Moral Elevation can be elicited with stimulus stories or videos and measured with self-report questionnaires. The experience of Moral Elevation is associated with subsequent prosocial and affiliative behaviors. Additionally, the research has linked Moral Elevation response with behavior on the AlAn's game. This study will test whether behavior on the AlAn's Short Game v.2 is related to Moral Elevation response and extend prior work by testing whether viewing the Moral Elevation stimulus prior to playing the AlAn's Short Game v.2 is associated with differences in game behavior. The study will also test whether psychopathic traits will correlate with game behavior.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Psychopathic Personality Trait
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Arm 1 - Elevation Stimulus Video; Other: Arm 2 - Control Stimulus Video

Detailed Description

Hypotheses and Specific Aims:

Aim 1: Examine the similarities and differences in behaviors on the AlAn's Short Game v.2 seen with the two Active Trial (AT) types (where Red Cross donation will be reduced and subject will gain money (AT1) vs. where the Red Cross donation will increase and study participants will lose money (AT2).

Hypothesis 1: Number of accepted trials of AT1 and AT2 from session 1 will significantly correlate.

Aim 2: Test the effects of Elevation vs. Nature video on change in AlAn's Short Game v.2 behavior between sessions 1 and 2.

Hypothesis 2: Subjects who view the Elevation stimulus video (study Arm 1) will show increases in prosocial behavior while those watching the Nature video will not.

Aim 3: Test the association between psychopathic traits and Costly Helping and determine whether the influence of Elevation on Costly Helping dissipates with increasing levels of psychopathic traits.

Hypothesis 3: Psychopathic traits, as measured by the Levenson Self Report Psychopathy Scale, will significantly and negatively correlate with the amount of prosocial behavior in session 1.

Hypothesis 4: Using subjects from study Arm 1, change in AlAn's Short game v.2 behavior (session 2 minus session 1) will be negatively correlated with psychopathic trait scores.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 537
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045
      • University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 25 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 18-25 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• refusal to provide informed consent

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm 1 - Elevation Stimulus Video; All subjects complete the Levenson Psychopathy Scale first. Arm 1 then presents the Moral Elevation stimulus video after playing the first AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 1). Participants will then play the AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 2) for a second time and then fill out an Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACES), Social Connectedness survey, and Demographics form.	Other: Arm 1 - Elevation Stimulus Video; Subjects will watch a video that has been shown in previous studies to elicit an elevation response. This video shows a news story about a man saving the life of another man who falls onto the subway tracks.
Sham Comparator: Arm 2 - Control Stimulus Video; All subjects complete the Levenson Psychopathy Scale first. Arm 2 then presents the control stimulus (nature video) after playing the first AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 1). Participants will then play the AlAn's Short Game v.2 (session 2) for a second time and then fill out an Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACES), Social Connectedness survey, and Demographics form.	Other: Arm 2 - Control Stimulus Video; Subjects will watch a nature video.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in the Amount of Prosocial Behavior on the AlAn's Short Game v.2	The primary outcome of interest is the change in the amount of prosocial behavior on the AlAn's Short game between sessions 1 and 2 (Costly Helping session 2 minus Costly Helping session 1). Our two main analyses of interest using this outcome measure are: (1) to test whether viewing the Moral Elevation stimulus video vs. the Control video experience a greater change in Costly Helping (e.g., that Moral Elevation response promotes prosocial behavior); and (2) to test whether psychopathic traits attenuate the relationship between Moral Elevation and prosocial behavior (i.e., among those viewing the Moral Elevation stimulus video, that our primary outcome - change in prosocial behavior - will be negatively related to level of psychopathic traits).	within 45 minutes, during one single study visit

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Colorado, Denver
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Joseph T Sakai, MD, University of Colorado, Denver

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Algoe SB, Haidt J. Witnessing excellence in action: the 'other-praising' emotions of elevation, gratitude, and admiration. J Posit Psychol. 2009;4(2):105-127. doi: 10.1080/17439760802650519.
• Haidt J. Elevation and the positive psychology of morality. In: Keyes C, Haidt, J., editor. Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association 913-919, 2003.
• Sakai JT, Dalwani MS, Mikulich-Gilbertson SK, McWilliams SK, Raymond KM, Crowley TJ. A Behavioral Measure of Costly Helping: Replicating and Extending the Association with Callous Unemotional Traits in Male Adolescents. PLoS One. 2016 Mar 15;11(3):e0151678. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151678. eCollection 2016.
• Aquino K, McFerran B, Laven M. Moral identity and the experience of moral elevation in response to acts of uncommon goodness. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2011 Apr;100(4):703-18. doi: 10.1037/a0022540.
• Freeman D, Aquino K, McFerran B. Overcoming beneficiary race as an impediment to charitable donations: social dominance orientation, the experience of moral elevation, and donation behavior. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2009 Jan;35(1):72-84. doi: 10.1177/0146167208325415. Epub 2008 Nov 18.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 8, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 26, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): October 26, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 4, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 5, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): February 8, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 19, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2020
• Last Verified: March 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: prosocial behavior; psychopathic traits; moral elevation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Personality Disorders; Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 17-0182

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: We will not share individual participant data. We might print the results of this research study in relevant journals or share aggregate data on that does not identify subjects with qualified investigators or as a supplement as required by some journals. However, the names and any other identifying information of research subjects will always be kept confidential and will not be shared. The data that may be shared in this manner include gender, age, and race/ethnicity, as well as responses from the AlAn's Game v.2, Levenson Psychopathy Scale, adverse childhood experiences questionnaire and social connectedness survey.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No