hide
Free keywords:
Prosocial behavior, narratives, justifications, motivated
moral reasoning, dictator game, SVO
JEL:
C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
JEL:
D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
JEL:
D64 - Altruism; Philanthropy
JEL:
D83 - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
JEL:
D91 - Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
Abstract:
We study how positive narratives (stories in favor of a prosocial action) and negative narratives (stories in favor of a selfish action) influence prosocial behavior. Our main findings are that positive narratives increase giving of selfish types substantially, compared to a baseline with no narratives. Negative narratives, on the other hand, have a differential effect. Prosocial types decrease their giving, while selfish types give more than in the baseline. We discuss two potential explanations for this effect: one based on the enhanced saliency of normative behavior through narratives, and another based on a social comparison argument.
