Doctoral Dissertation in Economics: The Negative Image Effect of Incentivizing Prosocial Behavior

该奖项资助经济学博士论文研究，该研究利用受控决策实验来确定志愿服务的经济激励有时是否以及为什么会减少志愿者的努力。之前的研究人员认为，接受志愿服务或捐赠的经济激励会损害一个人的社会形象？S。如果是这样的话，提供激励实际上可能会减少亲社会志愿者的努力；经济激励意味着志愿服务不再让社会相信你是一个慷慨的人。这一想法已经被纳入行为理论，但这些理论并不能预测一个人何时可以预期激励措施来鼓励亲社会行为。同样，还没有一项研究能够准确地识别负面形象效应。在仔细测试志愿者行为所涉及的机制时，这些实验室实验回答了这些问题。研究1实施了一种新的治疗方法，识别和测量负面形象效应以及其他主要影响。研究2测试了一种新理论，该理论可以直接解释过去研究的结果。对于那些已经建立了良好的志愿者声誉的人来说，激励志愿者行为的相关负面形象效应很可能要小一些，因为那些已经建立了声誉的人已经知道，他们会出于善意而不是贪婪的原因来做志愿者。研究3考察了在志愿者行为背景下，报酬递减对激励的作用。在识别负面形象效应以及提出和检验可能影响亲社会行为的新机制方面，本研究结果为研究亲社会行为提供了新的视角。实验室是获得这些结果的理想工具，因为一个人的行为和相关声誉的可观性，以及志愿者行为的水平和提供的激励都可以严格控制和衡量。更广泛的影响：除了有助于经济学、心理学和决策科学的跨学科研究外，这些实验结果还将为政府和非营利组织提供有关鼓励志愿者行为的有价值的信息。预期的后续实地研究将在学术界和非营利组织或政府组织之间建立伙伴关系。

This award funds doctoral dissertation research in Economics that uses controlled decision-making experiments to determine whether and why financial incentives for volunteering sometimes result in reduced volunteer effort.Previous researchers have argued that receiving a financial incentive for volunteering or donations could mar one?s social image. If this is the case,then offering an incentive might actually reduce prosocial volunteer effort; the financial incentive means that volunteering no longer convinces society that you are a generous person. This idea has been incorporated into behavioral theories, but these theories are not are not able to forecast when one may expect incentives to encourage prosocial behavior. Similarly, no study has been able to precisely identify the negative image effect. In carefully testing the mechanisms involved in volunteer behavior, these laboratory experiments answer these questions. Study 1 implements a novel treatment that identifies and measures the negative image effect as well as other main effects. Study 2 tests a new theory that can explain the results of past research in a straightforward way. The associated negative image effect of incentivizing volunteer behavior may well be smaller for someone with an established, as opposed to unestablished, good volunteer reputation, because those with established reputations are already known to volunteer for good, not greedy, reasons. Study 3 investigates the role of diminishing returns to incentives in the context of volunteer behavior. In achieving identification of the negative image effect as well as proposing and testing novel mechanisms that may influence prosocial behavior, the results of this research provide new insight into prosocial behavior. The laboratory stands as an ideal tool for acquiring these results, since the observability of one's actions and associated reputation as well as the level of volunteer behavior and offered incentives can all be tightly controlled and measured. Broader Impacts: In addition to contributing to interdisciplinary research in economics, psychology, and decision science, these experimental results will provide valuable information to government and nonprofit organizations about the encouragement of volunteer behavior. Expected follow-up field studies will engender partnerships between academia and non-profit or government organizations.