Work

Locus of Control and Prosocial Behavior

Year: 2022

Type: report

Abstract: We investigate how locus of control beliefs -the extent to which individuals attribute control over events in their life to themselves as opposed to outside factors -affect prosocial behavior and the private provision of public goods.We begin by developing a conceptual framework showing how locus of control beliefs serve as a weight placed on the returns from one's own contributions (impure altruism) and others contributions (pure altruism).Using multiple data sets from Germany and the U.S., we show that individuals who relate consequences to their own behavior are more likely to contribute to climate change mitigation, to donate money and in-kind gifts to charitable causes, to share money with others, to cast a vote in parliamentary elections, and to donate blood.Our results provide comprehensive evidence that locus of control beliefs affect prosocial behavior.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

DOI: 10.3386/w30359

Authors: Mark Andor, James Cox, Andreas Gerster, Michael Price, Stephan Sommer, Lukas Tomberg

Institutions: RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research, University of Mannheim, University of Alabama

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

Awards: G1056788683, G2994312516, G5142944752, Ökonomie des Klimawandels - Verbundvorhaben: Etablierung eines Haushaltspanels zur Evaluation von Klimaschutz- und Anpassungsmaßnahmen (Eval-Map) - Teilvorhaben 1, Evaluating Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Policies: The Need for a Household Energy Consumption Panel (Eval-MAP), Using Field Experiments and Naturally Occurring Data to Understand How State Policies Impact Charitable Giving