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Motives and comprehension in a public goods game with induced emotions

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  • Bartke, Simon
  • Bosworth, Steven J.
  • Snower, Dennis J.
  • Chierchia, Gabriele

Abstract

This study analyses the sensitivity of public goods contributions through the lens of psychological motives. We report the results of a public goods experiment in which subjects were induced with the motives of care and anger through autobiographical recall. Subjects’ preferences, beliefs, and perceptions under each motive are compared with those of subjects experiencing a neutral autobiographical recall control condition. We find, but only for those subjects with the highest comprehension of the game, that care elicits significantly higher contributions than anger, with the control treatment in between. This positive influence of the care motive on unconditional giving is accounted for partly by preferences for giving and partly by beliefs concerning greater contributions by others. Anger also affects attention to own and other’s payoffs (measured by mouse tracking) and perceptions of the game’s incentive structure (cooperative or competitive).

Suggested Citation

  • Bartke, Simon & Bosworth, Steven J. & Snower, Dennis J. & Chierchia, Gabriele, 2019. "Motives and comprehension in a public goods game with induced emotions," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 234045, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:234045
    DOI: 10.1007/s11238-018-9677-5
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yiting Guo & Jason Shachat & Matthew J. Walker & Lijia Wei, 2021. "Viral social media videos can raise pro-social behaviours when an epidemic arises," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 7(2), pages 120-138, December.
    3. Sanjit Dhami & Mengxing Wei, 2023. "Norms, Emotions, and Culture in Human Cooperation and Punishment: Theory and Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 10220, CESifo.
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    5. Steven Jacob Bosworth & Simon Bartke, 2019. "Cross-task spillovers in workplace teams: Motivation vs. learning," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2019-15, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
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