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Prosociality predicts labor market success around the world

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  • Kosse, Fabian
  • Tincani, Michaela M.

Abstract

A large literature points to the importance of prosociality for the well-being of societies and individuals. However, most of this work is based on observations from western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies, questioning the generalizability of these findings. Here we present a global investigation of the relation between prosociality and labor market success. Our analysis uses experimentally validated measures of prosociality and is based on about 80,000 individuals in 76 representative country samples. We show a sizable and robust positive relation between prosociality and labor market success around the world that does not systematically differ across continents or by countries’ economic development. These findings generalize the positive relation between prosociality and labor market success to a wide geographical context.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosse, Fabian & Tincani, Michaela M., 2020. "Prosociality predicts labor market success around the world," Munich Reprints in Economics 75115, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenar:75115
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    File URL: https://epub.ub.uni-muenchen.de/75115/1/s41467-020-19007-1.pdf
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    Cited by:

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    2. Breitkopf, Laura & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Priyam, Shambhavi & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah & Sutter, Matthias, 2024. "Do Economic Preferences of Children Predict Behavior?," IZA Discussion Papers 16834, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Laura Breitkopf & Shyamal Chowdhury & Shambhavi Priyam & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "Do economic preferences of children predict behavior?," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2024_09, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    4. Fabian Kosse & Ranjita Rajan & Michela Tincani, 2023. "The Persistent Effect of Competition on Prosociality," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 449, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    5. Fang, Ximeng & Freyer, Timo & Ho, Chui-Yee & Chen, Zihua & Goette, Lorenz, 2022. "Prosociality predicts individual behavior and collective outcomes in the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    6. Maria Bigoni & Stefania Bortolotti & Veronica Rattini, 2022. "A tale of two cities: an experiment on inequality and preferences," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 189-222, February.
    7. Greta Morando & Lucinda Platt, 2022. "The Impact of Centre‐based Childcare on Non‐cognitive Skills of Young Children," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(356), pages 908-946, October.
    8. Laura Alfaro & Ester Faia & Nora Lamersdorf & Farzad Saidi, 2022. "Health Externalities and Policy: The Role of Social Preferences," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6751-6761, September.
    9. Mayer, Maximilian, 2023. "Climate change concerns and information spillovers from socially-connected friends," IWH Discussion Papers 2/2023, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    10. Kosse, Fabian & Rajan, Ranjita & Tincani, Michela M., 2023. "The Persistent Effect of Competition on Prosociality," IZA Discussion Papers 16595, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Laura Breitkopf & Shyamal Chowdhury & Shambhavi Priyam & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "Do Economic Preferences of Children Predict Behavior?," CESifo Working Paper Series 10988, CESifo.
    12. Mark Gradstein, 2022. "Cultural Attributes, Income Inequality, and Ethnic Differentials," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 44, pages 91-103, April.
    13. Fabian Kosse & Ranjita Rajan & Michela Tincani, 2023. "The Persistent Effect of Competition on Prosociality," Working Papers 2023-028, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    14. Vojtěch Bartoš & Ian Levely & Vojtech Bartos, 2023. "Measuring Social Preferences in Developing Economies," CESifo Working Paper Series 10744, CESifo.
    15. Bietenbeck, Jan & Sunde, Uwe & Thiemann, Petra, 2023. "Recession Experiences during Early Adulthood Shape Prosocial Attitudes Later in Life," IZA Discussion Papers 16490, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Fabian Kosse & Ranjita Rajan & Michela Tincani & Michela Maria Tincani, 2023. "The Persistent Effect of Competition on Prosociality," CESifo Working Paper Series 10779, CESifo.

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