Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 2012
  • Article
  • Management Science

Paying to Be Nice: Consistency and Costly Prosocial Behavior

By: Ayelet Gneezy, Alex Imas, Amber Brown, Leif D. Nelson and Michael I. Norton
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:9
ShareBar

Abstract

Building on previous research in economics and psychology, we propose that the costliness of initial prosocial behavior positively influences whether that behavior leads to consistent future behaviors. We suggest that costly prosocial behaviors serve as a signal of prosocial identity and that people subsequently behave in line with that self-perception. In contrast, costless prosocial acts do not signal much about one's prosocial identity, so subsequent behavior is less likely to be consistent and may even show the reductions in prosocial behavior associated with licensing. The results of a laboratory experiment and a large field experiment converge to support our account.

Keywords

Behavior; Perception; Performance Consistency; Identity

Citation

Gneezy, Ayelet, Alex Imas, Amber Brown, Leif D. Nelson, and Michael I. Norton. "Paying to Be Nice: Consistency and Costly Prosocial Behavior." Management Science 58, no. 1 (January 2012): 179–187.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Michael I. Norton

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • July 2022
    • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    When Alterations Are Violations: Moral Outrage and Punishment in Response to (Even Minor) Alterations to Rituals

    By: Daniel H. Stein, Juliana Schroeder, Nicholas M. Hobson, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
    • April 2022
    • Journal of Consumer Research

    Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others

    By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams and Michael I. Norton
    • October 2021
    • Journal of Consumer Psychology

    Communicating Resource Scarcity and Interpersonal Connection

    By: Grant E. Donnelly, Anne V. Wilson, Ashley V. Whillans and Michael I. Norton
More from the Authors
  • When Alterations Are Violations: Moral Outrage and Punishment in Response to (Even Minor) Alterations to Rituals By: Daniel H. Stein, Juliana Schroeder, Nicholas M. Hobson, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
  • Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams and Michael I. Norton
  • Communicating Resource Scarcity and Interpersonal Connection By: Grant E. Donnelly, Anne V. Wilson, Ashley V. Whillans and Michael I. Norton
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College