TY - JOUR

T1 - Prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

AU - Campos-Mercade, Pol

AU - Meier, Armando

AU - Schneider, Florian

AU - Wengström, Erik

PY - 2021/3

Y1 - 2021/3

N2 - Socially responsible behavior is crucial for slowing the spread of infectious diseases. However, economic and epidemiological models of disease transmission abstract from prosocial motivations as a driver of behaviors that impact the health of others. In an incentivized study, we show that a large majority of people are very reluctant to put others at risk for their personal benefit. Moreover, this experimental measure of prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, measured in a separate and ostensibly unrelated study with the same people. Prosocial individuals are more likely to follow physical distancing guidelines, stay home when sick, and buy face masks. We also find that prosociality measured two years before the pandemic predicts health behaviors during the pandemic. Our findings indicate that prosociality is a stable, long-term predictor of policy-relevant behaviors, suggesting that the impact of policies on a population may depend on the degree of prosociality.

AB - Socially responsible behavior is crucial for slowing the spread of infectious diseases. However, economic and epidemiological models of disease transmission abstract from prosocial motivations as a driver of behaviors that impact the health of others. In an incentivized study, we show that a large majority of people are very reluctant to put others at risk for their personal benefit. Moreover, this experimental measure of prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, measured in a separate and ostensibly unrelated study with the same people. Prosocial individuals are more likely to follow physical distancing guidelines, stay home when sick, and buy face masks. We also find that prosociality measured two years before the pandemic predicts health behaviors during the pandemic. Our findings indicate that prosociality is a stable, long-term predictor of policy-relevant behaviors, suggesting that the impact of policies on a population may depend on the degree of prosociality.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Social preferences

KW - health behavior

KW - Externalities

KW - prosociality

KW - CoVID-19

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104367

DO - 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104367

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 33531719

VL - 195

JO - Journal of Public Economics

JF - Journal of Public Economics

SN - 0047-2727

M1 - 104367

ER -