Erik Wengström
Professor, Director of Doctoral studies, Department of Economics
Prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author
Summary, in English
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.
Department/s
- Department of Economics
Publishing year
2021
Language
English
Publication/Series
Journal of Public Economics
Volume
195
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Economics
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0047-2727