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Prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Campos-Mercade, Pol and Meier, Armando N. and Schneider, Florian H. and Wengström, Erik. (2021) Prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Public Economics, 195. p. 104367.

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Abstract

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.
Faculties and Departments:06 Faculty of Business and Economics > Departement Wirtschaftswissenschaften > Professuren Wirtschaftswissenschaften > Politische Ökonomie (Stutzer)
UniBasel Contributors:Meier, Armando Nicolas
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0047-2727
e-ISSN:1879-2316
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
Language:English
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Last Modified:31 Oct 2022 10:26
Deposited On:31 Oct 2022 10:26

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