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A portable method of eliciting respect for social norms

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  • Kimbrough, Erik O.
  • Vostroknutov, Alexander

Abstract

Recent models of prosociality suggest that cooperation in laboratory games may be better understood as resulting from concern for social norms than from prosocial preferences over outcomes. Underlying this interpretation is the idea that people exhibit heterogeneous respect for shared norms. We introduce a new, abstract task to elicit a proxy for individual norm-following propensity by asking subjects to choose from two actions, where one is costly. We instruct subjects that “the rule is” to take the costly action. Their willingness to incur such a cost reveals respect for norms. We show that choices in this task are similar across five countries. Rule-following is correlated with norm-consistent behavior in dictator games, providing support for our interpretation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kimbrough, Erik O. & Vostroknutov, Alexander, 2018. "A portable method of eliciting respect for social norms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 147-150.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:168:y:2018:i:c:p:147-150
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2018.04.030
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    Cited by:

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    2. Francesco Fallucchi & Daniele Nosenzo, 2022. "The coordinating power of social norms," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(1), pages 1-25, February.
    3. He, Shutong & Blasch, Julia & Robinson, Peter John & van Beukering, Pieter, 2024. "Social comparison feedback in decision-making context: Environmental externality levels and psychological traits matter," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    4. Leonard Hoeft & Wladislaw Mill & Alexander Vostroknutov, 2019. "Normative Perception of Power Abuse," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2019_06, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    5. De Geest, Lawrence R. & Kingsley, David C., 2021. "Norm enforcement with incomplete information," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 403-430.
    6. Rössler, Christoph & Rusch, Hannes & Friehe, Tim, 2019. "Do norms make preferences social? Supporting evidence from the field," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Diego Aycinena & Francisco B. Galarza Arellano & Javier Torres, 2024. "Interactions in a High Immigration Context," Working Papers 199, Peruvian Economic Association.
    8. Eryk Krysowski & James Tremewan, 2021. "Why Does Anonymity Make Us Misbehave: Different Norms Or Less Compliance?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 59(2), pages 776-789, April.
    9. Merguei, Nitzan & Strobel, Martin & Vostroknutov, Alexander, 2022. "Moral opportunism as a consequence of decision making under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 624-642.
    10. Gürdal, Mehmet Y. & Torul, Orhan & Vostroknutov, Alexander, 2020. "Norm compliance, enforcement, and the survival of redistributive institutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 313-326.
    11. Denis Tverskoi & Andrea Guido & Giulia Andrighetto & Angel Sánchez & Sergey Gavrilets, 2023. "Disentangling material, social, and cognitive determinants of human behavior and beliefs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Erik O. Kimbrough & Erin L. Krupka & Rajnish Kumar & Jennifer M. Murray & Abhijit Ramalingam & Sharon Sánchez-Franco & Olga L. Sarmiento & Frank Kee & Ruth F. Hunter, 2024. "On the stability of norms and norm-following propensity: a cross-cultural panel study with adolescents," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 27(2), pages 351-378, April.
    13. Cui, Chi & Dai, Ming & Schwieren, Christiane, 2024. "Following Social Norms, Signaling, and Cooperation in the Public Goods Game," Working Papers 0746, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    14. Traub, Stefan & Schwaninger, Manuel & Paetzel, Fabian & Neuhofer, Sabine, 2023. "Evidence on need-sensitive giving behavior: An experimental approach to the acknowledgment of needs," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 105(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experimental economics; Norms; Prosocial behavior; Social preferences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles

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