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Altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of norm violations in the field

Author

Listed:
  • Loukas Balafoutas

    (University of Innsbruck)

  • Nikos Nikiforakis

    (New York University Abu Dhabi)

  • Bettina Rockenbach

    (University of Cologne)

Abstract

The degree of human cooperation among strangers is a major evolutionary puzzle. A prominent explanation is that cooperation is maintained because many individuals have a predisposition to punish those violating group-beneficial norms. A critical condition for cooperation to evolve in evolutionary models is that punishment increases with the severity of the violation. Here we present evidence from a field experiment with real-life interactions that, unlike in lab experiments, altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of the violation, regardless of whether it is direct (confronting a violator) or indirect (withholding help). We also document growing concerns for counter-punishment as the severity of the violation increases, indicating that the marginal cost of direct punishment increases with the severity of violations. The evidence suggests that altruistic punishment may not provide appropriate incentives to deter large violations. Our findings thus offer a rationale for the emergence of formal institutions for promoting large-scale cooperation among strangers.

Suggested Citation

  • Loukas Balafoutas & Nikos Nikiforakis & Bettina Rockenbach, 2016. "Altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of norm violations in the field," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13327
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13327
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    Cited by:

    1. Fazio, Andrea & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "The political cost of sanctions: Evidence from COVID-19," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(9), pages 872-878.
    2. Riehm, Tobias & Fugger, Nicolas & Gillen, Philippe & Gretschko, Vitali & Werner, Peter, 2022. "Social norms, sanctions, and conditional entry in markets with externalities: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    3. Bicchieri, Cristina & Dimant, Eugen & Xiao, Erte, 2021. "Deviant or wrong? The effects of norm information on the efficacy of punishment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 209-235.
    4. Dimant, Eugen, 2023. "Beyond average: A method for measuring the tightness, looseness, and polarization of social norms," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    5. Fazio, Andrea & Reggiani, Tommaso G. & Sabatini, Fabio, 2021. "The Political Cost of Lockdown's Enforcement," IZA Discussion Papers 14032, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Kimmo Eriksson & Per A. Andersson & Pontus Strimling, 2017. "When is it appropriate to reprimand a norm violation? The roles of anger, behavioral consequences, violation severity, and social distance," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 12(4), pages 396-407, July.
    7. Eugen Dimant & Tobias Gesche, 2021. "Nudging Enforcers: How Norm Perceptions and Motives for Lying Shape Sanctions," CESifo Working Paper Series 9385, CESifo.
    8. Mulder, Laetitia B. & Kurz, Tim & Prosser, Annayah M.B. & Fonseca, Miguel A., 2024. "The presence of laws and mandates is associated with increased social norm enforcement," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. Manuel Muñoz-Herrera & Nikos Nikiforakis, 2023. "Experimental evidence shows that ulterior motive attribution drives counter-punishment," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 9(2), pages 193-206, December.
    10. Thijs Brouwer & Fabio Galeotti & Marie Claire Villeval, 2023. "Teaching Norms: Direct Evidence of Parental Transmission," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(650), pages 872-887.
    11. Riehm, Tobias & Fugger, Nicolas & Gillen, Philippe & Gretschko, Vitali & Werner, Peter, 2021. "Social norms and market behavior: Evidence from a large population sample," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-017, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Robert Stüber, 2020. "The benefit of the doubt: willful ignorance and altruistic punishment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 23(3), pages 848-872, September.
    13. Im, Changkuk & Lee, Jinkwon, 2022. "On the fragility of third-party punishment: The context effect of a dominated risky investment option," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    14. Stüber, Robert, 2019. "The benefit of the doubt: Willful ignorance and altruistic punishment," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2019-215, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    15. Chen, Fan Xuan & Graso, Maja & Aquino, Karl & Lin, Lily & Cheng, Joey T. & DeCelles, Katherine & Vadera, Abhijeet K., 2022. "The vigilante identity and organizations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    16. Artavia-Mora, Luis & Bedi, Arjun S. & Rieger, Matthias, 2017. "Intuitive help and punishment in the field," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 133-145.
    17. Sulser, Pascal & Fischbacher, Urs & Wolff, Irenaeus, 2025. "Whose Norms to Follow? A Field Experiment on Both Sides of a Border," VfS Annual Conference 2025 (Cologne): Revival of Industrial Policy 325425, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Guerra, Alice & Zhuravleva, Tatyana, 2021. "Do bystanders react to bribery?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 442-462.
    19. Manuel Muñoz-Herrera & Nikos Nikiforakis, 2020. "Experimental Evidence Shows That Negative Motive Attribution Drives Counter- Punishment," Working Papers 20200056, New York University Abu Dhabi, Department of Social Science, revised Oct 2020.
    20. James Andreoni & Nikos Nikiforakis & Simon Siegenthaler, 2021. "Predicting social tipping and norm change in controlled experiments," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(16), pages 2014893118-, April.

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