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Do Liberals Play Nice? The Effects of Party and Political Ideology in Public Goods and Trust Games

Author

Listed:
  • Lisa Anderson
  • Jennifer Mellor
  • Jeffrey Milyo

Abstract

Democrats and liberals are generally understood to be more caring and kind than Republicans and conservatives; for example, even conservative author and media personality Ben Wattenberg has acknowledged that "the word ‘conservative’ conjures up images of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, while ‘liberal’ brings to mind kindly Santa Claus." (PBS Think-Tank, 1995). This perception of Democrats and liberals as more other-regarding, while not universal, is pervasive enough that George W. Bush, while campaigning for the Republican nomination for president, adopted the moniker of a "compassionate conservative" to counter such stereotypes. But are left-leaning individuals really more generous and trusting? We put conventional wisdom to the test by examining differences in the behavior of liberal versus conservative subjects in two classic experimental settings: the public goods game and the bilateral trust game.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisa Anderson & Jennifer Mellor & Jeffrey Milyo, 2004. "Do Liberals Play Nice? The Effects of Party and Political Ideology in Public Goods and Trust Games," Working Papers 0411, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:har:wpaper:0411
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Pablo Hernandez & Dylan Minor, 2015. "Political Identity and Trust," Harvard Business School Working Papers 16-012, Harvard Business School.
    3. Kyle Fischer & Quentin D. Atkinson & Ananish Chaudhuri, 2021. "Experiments in political psychology," Chapters, in: Ananish Chaudhuri (ed.), A Research Agenda for Experimental Economics, chapter 8, pages 163-190, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Mccannon, Bryan C., 2014. "Trust, reciprocity, and a preference for economic freedom: experimental evidence," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 451-470, September.
    5. Dawes, Christopher T. & Johannesson, Magnus & Lindqvist, Erik & Loewen, Peter & Östling, Robert & Bonde, Marianne & Priks, Frida, 2012. "Generosity and Political Preferences," Working Paper Series 941, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    6. John R. Alford & John R. Hibbing, 2007. "Personal, Interpersonal, and Political Temperaments," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 614(1), pages 196-212, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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