The Endogenous Nature of Social Preferences

21 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2009

See all articles by John Smith

John Smith

Rutgers University-Camden

Date Written: August 4, 2009

Abstract

This paper presents evidence which challenges the view that techniques which are designed to measure the social preferences of subjects can always be accomplished in a nonintrusive manner. We find evidence that such measurements can influence the preferences which they are designed to measure. Researchers often measure social preferences by posing a series of dictator game allocation decisions; we use a particular technique, Social Value Orientation (SVO). In our experiment we vary the order of the SVO measurement and a lager stakes dictator game. We find that subjects with prosocial preferences act even more prosocially when the SVO measurement is administered first, whereas those with selfish preferences are unaffected by the order of the measurement. Additionally, we find evidence that this difference is driven by the presence of choices involving the size of surplus.

Keywords: Other-Regarding Preferences, Social Value Orientation, Dictator Game

JEL Classification: C91, D64

Suggested Citation

Smith, John, The Endogenous Nature of Social Preferences (August 4, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1443627 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1443627

John Smith (Contact Author)

Rutgers University-Camden ( email )

Department of Economics
311 N. 5th St., 421 Armitage Hall
Camden, NJ 08102
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.JohnSmithEcon.com/

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