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    • All HBS Web  (120)
      • Faculty Publications  (57)

      Prosocial Behavior Remove Prosocial Behavior →

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      • December 2022
      • Article

      'Just Letting You Know…': Underestimating Others' Desire for Constructive Feedback

      By: Nicole Abi-Esber, Jennifer E. Abel, Juliana Schroeder and Francesca Gino
      People often avoid giving feedback to others even when it would help fix a problem immediately. Indeed, in a pilot field study (N=155), only 2.6% of individuals provided feedback to survey administrators that the administrators had food or marker on their faces....  View Details
      Keywords: Feedback; Helping; Prosocial Behavior; Misprediction; Relationships; Interpersonal Communication; Perspective
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      Abi-Esber, Nicole, Jennifer E. Abel, Juliana Schroeder, and Francesca Gino. "'Just Letting You Know…': Underestimating Others' Desire for Constructive Feedback." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 123, no. 6 (December 2022): 1362–1385.
      • 2022
      • Working Paper

      Beliefs About Giving Across Contexts

      By: Christine L. Exley, John-Henry Pezzuto and Marta Serra-Garcia
      A rich literature investigates prosocial behavior by exploiting a variety of methods, the validity of which has been debated. While this literature has compared behavior inside and outside of the laboratory, an open question is how participants view prosocial behavior...  View Details
      Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Values and Beliefs
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      Exley, Christine L., John-Henry Pezzuto, and Marta Serra-Garcia. "Beliefs About Giving Across Contexts." Working Paper, September 2022.
      • July 2022
      • Article

      The Developmental Origins and Behavioral Consequences of Attributions for Inequality

      By: Antonya Marie Gonzalez, Lucia Macchia and Ashley V. Whillans
      Attributions, or lay explanations for inequality, have been linked to inequality-relevant behavior. In adults and children, attributing inequality to an individual rather than contextual or structural causes is linked to greater support for economic inequality and less...  View Details
      Keywords: Social Cognition; Inequality; Prosocial Behavior; Parent-child Transmission; Equality and Inequality; Cognition and Thinking; Attitudes; Behavior
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      Gonzalez, Antonya Marie, Lucia Macchia, and Ashley V. Whillans. "The Developmental Origins and Behavioral Consequences of Attributions for Inequality." Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 101 (July 2022).
      • 2022
      • Working Paper

      The Routledge Handbook of Digital Consumption, Chapter 41: The Internet’s Effects on Consumption: Useful, Harmful, Playful

      By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld
      This chapter considers how digital culture has changed over the past decade, as the internet has grown its scope and user base. Billions around the world connect daily to an ever-expanding set of applications. A framework for thinking about digital effects is offered:...  View Details
      Keywords: Digital Culture; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Society
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      Deighton, John A., and Leora Kornfeld. "The Routledge Handbook of Digital Consumption, Chapter 41: The Internet’s Effects on Consumption: Useful, Harmful, Playful." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-049, January 2022.
      • January 10, 2022
      • Article

      The Link Between Income, Income Inequality, and Prosocial Behavior Around the World: A Multiverse Approach

      By: Lucia Macchia and Ashley V. Whillans
      The questions of whether high-income individuals are more prosocial than low-income individuals and whether income inequality moderates this effect have received extensive attention. We shed new light on this topic by analyzing a large-scale dataset with a...  View Details
      Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Income Inequality; Behavior; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Income
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      Macchia, Lucia, and Ashley V. Whillans. "The Link Between Income, Income Inequality, and Prosocial Behavior Around the World: A Multiverse Approach." Social Psychology (January 10, 2022): 375–386.
      • 2021
      • Article

      Don't Get It or Don't Spread It: Comparing Self-interested versus Prosocial Motivations for COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors

      By: Jillian J. Jordan, Erez Yoeli and David Rand
      COVID-19 prevention behaviors may be seen as self-interested or prosocial. Using American samples from MTurk and Prolific (total n = 6,850), we investigated which framing is more effective—and motivation is stronger—for fostering prevention behavior intentions. We...  View Details
      Keywords: COVID-19; Prevention; Prosocial Motivation; Health Pandemics; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives
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      Jordan, Jillian J., Erez Yoeli, and David Rand. "Don't Get It or Don't Spread It: Comparing Self-interested versus Prosocial Motivations for COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors." Art. 20222. Scientific Reports 11 (2021).
      • 2021
      • Working Paper

      'Just Letting You Know…': Underestimating Others' Desire for Constructive Feedback

      By: Nicole Abi-Esber, Jennifer Abel, Juliana Schroeder and Francesca Gino
      People often avoid giving feedback to others even when it would help fix a problem immediately. Indeed, in a pilot field study (N=155), only 2.6% of individuals provided feedback to survey administrators that the administrators had food or marker on their faces....  View Details
      Keywords: Feedback; Helping; Prosocial Behavior; Relationships; Social Psychology; Theory; Perception
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      Abi-Esber, Nicole, Jennifer Abel, Juliana Schroeder, and Francesca Gino. "'Just Letting You Know…': Underestimating Others' Desire for Constructive Feedback." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 22-009, August 2021.
      • March 2021
      • Article

      Opting-in to Prosocial Incentives

      By: Daniel Schwartz, Elizabeth A. Keenan, Alex Imas and Ayelet Gneezy
      The design of effective incentive schemes that are both successful in motivating employees and keeping down costs is of critical importance. Research has demonstrated that prosocial incentives, where individuals’ effort benefits a charitable organization, can sometimes...  View Details
      Keywords: Incentives; Prosocial Behavior; Behavioral Economics; Field Experiments; Recycling; Prosocial Motivation; Decision Making; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior
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      Schwartz, Daniel, Elizabeth A. Keenan, Alex Imas, and Ayelet Gneezy. "Opting-in to Prosocial Incentives." Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 163 (March 2021): 132–141.
      • February 2021
      • Article

      I Own, So I Help Out: How Psychological Ownership Increases Prosocial Behavior

      By: Ata Jami, Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino
      This article explores the consequences of psychological ownership going beyond the specific relationship with the possession to guide behavior in unrelated situations. Across seven studies, we find that psychological ownership leads to a boost in self-esteem, which...  View Details
      Keywords: Psychological Ownership; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Self-Esteem; Materialism; Behavior; Attitudes
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      Jami, Ata, Maryam Kouchaki, and Francesca Gino. "I Own, So I Help Out: How Psychological Ownership Increases Prosocial Behavior." Journal of Consumer Research 47, no. 5 (February 2021): 698–715.
      • 2021
      • Article

      Helping and Happiness: A Review and Guide for Public Policy

      By: Lara B. Aknin and Ashley V. Whillans
      Perhaps one of the most reaffirming findings to emerge over the past several decades is that humans not only engage in generous behavior, they also appear to experience pleasure from doing so. Yet not all acts of helping lead to greater happiness. Here, we review the...  View Details
      Keywords: Generosity; Helping; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Happiness; Policy
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      Aknin, Lara B., and Ashley V. Whillans. "Helping and Happiness: A Review and Guide for Public Policy." Social Issues and Policy Review 15 (2021): 3–34.
      • 2022
      • Working Paper

      Intertemporal Altruism

      By: Felix Chopra, Armin Falk and Thomas Graeber
      Most prosocial decisions involve intertemporal tradeoffs. Yet, the timing of prosocial utility flows is ambiguous and bypassed by most models of other-regarding preferences. We study the behavioral implications of the time structure of prosocial utility,...  View Details
      Keywords: Altruism; Donation; Intertemporal Decision-making; Time Inconsistency
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      Chopra, Felix, Armin Falk, and Thomas Graeber. "Intertemporal Altruism." Working Paper, August 2022. (R&R at American Economic Journal Microeconomics.)
      • Article

      Common Variants of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Do Not Predict the Positive Mood Benefits of Prosocial Spending

      By: Ashley V. Whillans, Lara B. Aknin, Colin Ross, Lihan Chen and Frances S. Chen
      Who benefits most from helping others? Previous research suggests that common polymorphisms of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) predict whether people behave generously and experience increases in positive mood in response to socially-focused experiences in daily...  View Details
      Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Positivity; Behavior Genetics; Individual Differences; Behavior; Emotions; Genetics; Spending
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      Whillans, Ashley V., Lara B. Aknin, Colin Ross, Lihan Chen, and Frances S. Chen. "Common Variants of the Oxytocin Receptor Gene Do Not Predict the Positive Mood Benefits of Prosocial Spending." Emotion 20, no. 5 (August 2020): 734–749.
      • August 2020
      • Article

      Does Spending Money on Others Promote Happiness? A Registered Replication Report

      By: Lara B. Aknin, Elizabeth W. Dunn, Jason Proulx, Iris Lok and Michael I. Norton
      Research indicates that spending money on others—prosocial spending—leads to greater happiness than spending money on oneself (e.g., Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008, 2014). These findings have received widespread attention because they offer insight into why people engage...  View Details
      Keywords: Prosocial Spending; Generosity; Well-being; Replication; Happiness; Behavior; Spending
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      Aknin, Lara B., Elizabeth W. Dunn, Jason Proulx, Iris Lok, and Michael I. Norton. "Does Spending Money on Others Promote Happiness? A Registered Replication Report." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 119, no. 2 (August 2020).
      • August 2020
      • Article

      Volunteering and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach

      By: Eric Kim, A.V. Whillans, Matt Lee, Ying Chen and Tyler VanderWeele
      Background: Growing evidence documents strong associations between volunteering and favorable health and well-being outcomes. However, epidemiological studies have not evaluated whether changes in volunteering are associated with subsequent health and well-being...  View Details
      Keywords: Volunteering; Prosocial Behavior; Well-being; Behavior; Health; Welfare
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      Kim, Eric, A.V. Whillans, Matt Lee, Ying Chen, and Tyler VanderWeele. "Volunteering and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 59, no. 2 (August 2020): 176–186.
      • Article

      Forgoing Earned Incentives to Signal Pure Motives

      By: Erika L. Kirgios, Edward H. Chang, Emma E. Levine, Katherine L. Milkman and Judd B. Kessler
      Policy makers, employers, and insurers often provide financial incentives to encourage citizens, employees, and customers to take actions that are good for them or for society (e.g., energy conservation, healthy living, safe driving). Although financial incentives are...  View Details
      Keywords: Incentives; Motivation Laundering; Self-signaling; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Perception
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      Kirgios, Erika L., Edward H. Chang, Emma E. Levine, Katherine L. Milkman, and Judd B. Kessler. "Forgoing Earned Incentives to Signal Pure Motives." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 29 (July 21, 2020): 16891–16897.
      • March 24, 2020
      • Article

      Delayed Negative Effects of Prosocial Spending on Happiness

      By: Armin Falk and Thomas Graeber
      Does prosocial behavior promote happiness? We test this longstanding hypothesis in a behavioral experiment that extends the scope of previous research. In our Saving a Life paradigm, every participant either saved one human life in expectation by triggering a targeted...  View Details
      Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Happiness; Well-being; Spending; Behavior
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      Falk, Armin, and Thomas Graeber. "Delayed Negative Effects of Prosocial Spending on Happiness." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 12 (March 24, 2020): 6463–6468.
      • February 2020
      • Article

      Being 'Good' or 'Good Enough': Prosocial Risk and the Structure of Moral Self-regard

      By: Julian Zlatev, Daniella M. Kupor, Kristin Laurin and Dale T. Miller
      The motivation to feel moral powerfully guides people’s prosocial behavior. We propose that people’s efforts to preserve their moral self-regard conform to a moral threshold model. This model predicts that people are primarily concerned with whether their...  View Details
      Keywords: Prosocial Behavior; Moral Sensibility; Decision Making; Risk and Uncertainty; Behavior; Perception
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      Zlatev, Julian, Daniella M. Kupor, Kristin Laurin, and Dale T. Miller. "Being 'Good' or 'Good Enough': Prosocial Risk and the Structure of Moral Self-regard." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 118, no. 2 (February 2020): 242–253.
      • February 2020
      • Article

      Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give

      By: Christine L. Exley
      There is an increasing pressure to give more wisely and effectively. There is, relatedly, an increasing focus on charity performance metrics. Via a series of experiments, this paper provides a caution to such a focus. While information on charity performance metrics...  View Details
      Keywords: Charitable Giving; Prosocial Behavior; Altruism; Excuses; Self-serving Biases; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance; Measurement and Metrics; Behavior
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      Exley, Christine L. "Using Charity Performance Metrics as an Excuse Not to Give." Management Science 66, no. 2 (February 2020): 553–563.
      • February 2020
      • Article

      Why Prosocial Referral Incentives Work: The Interplay of Reputational Benefits and Action Costs

      By: Rachel Gershon, Cynthia Cryder and Leslie K. John
      While selfish incentives typically outperform prosocial incentives, in the context of customer referral rewards, prosocial incentives can be more effective. Companies frequently offer “selfish” (i.e., sender-benefiting) referral incentives, offering customers financial...  View Details
      Keywords: Incentives; Prosocial Behavior; Judgment And Decision-making; Referral Rewards; Motivation and Incentives; Consumer Behavior; Decision Making
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      Gershon, Rachel, Cynthia Cryder, and Leslie K. John. "Why Prosocial Referral Incentives Work: The Interplay of Reputational Benefits and Action Costs." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 57, no. 1 (February 2020): 156–172.
      • Article

      Signaling When Nobody Is Watching: A Reputation Heuristics Account of Outrage and Punishment in One-shot Anonymous Interactions

      By: Jillian J. Jordan and David G. Rand
      Moralistic punishment can confer reputation benefits by signaling trustworthiness to observers. However, why do people punish even when nobody is watching? We argue that people often rely on the heuristic that reputation is typically at stake, such that reputation...  View Details
      Keywords: Signaling; Morality; Trustworthiness; Anger; Third-party Punishment; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Trust; Reputation
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      Jordan, Jillian J., and David G. Rand. "Signaling When Nobody Is Watching: A Reputation Heuristics Account of Outrage and Punishment in One-shot Anonymous Interactions." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 118, no. 1 (January 2020).
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