Motives and comprehension in a public goods game with induced emotions

Bartke, S., Bosworth, S. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8978-9516, Snower, D. J. and Chierchia, G. (2019) Motives and comprehension in a public goods game with induced emotions. Theory and Decision, 86 (2). pp. 205-238. ISSN 1573-7187 doi: 10.1007/s11238-018-9677-5

Abstract/Summary

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 the beliefs concerning greater contributions by others. Anger also affects attention to own and other's payoffs (using mouse tracking) and perceptions of the game's incentive structure (cooperative or competitive).

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/80113
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s11238-018-9677-5
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Politics, Economics and International Relations > Economics
Publisher	Springer
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