The salience of choice reduces social responsibility: evidence from lab experiments and compliance with COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

ABSTRACT: The tension between self-interest and the collective good is fundamental to human societies. We propose that the idea of choice is a key lever that nudges people to act in a self-interested manner because it leads people to value independence. Making one inconsequential choice at the beginning of an incentive-compatible lab experiment made people 41% more likely to choose a monetary allocation that maximized their own payoff while minimizing the total payoff of their group (Studies 1A and 1B). The next two studies featured seven-participant experimental markets in which sellers decided whether to produce conventional goods (which imposed costs on others) or socially responsible goods (which did not impose any costs), and buyers decided which goods to purchase. In markets in which members m

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9802458 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature