Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
在收银台传递善意？关于一项自然田野实验的评注
Paying forward kindness at the checkout? Note on a natural field experiment
摘要
Whether and why humans pass on received kindness to unrelated others is crucial for understanding cooperation between strangers. The existing evidence on ‘paying forward’ can be explained in two ways. It may be ‘hard-wired’ or based on imitation. This study examines these channels in a field experiment by observing whether customers who are complimented at a supermarket checkout are more likely to donate to charity later. The study provides the first causal evidence from the field that humans who are treated kindly are significantly kinder to unrelated others without directly imitating behavior.
中文摘要
人类是否会以及为何会将受到的善意传递给无关联的他人，对于理解陌生人之间的合作至关重要。现有关于“传递善意”的证据可从两种方式解释：它可能是“硬连线”的，也可能是基于模仿的。本研究通过一项田野实验检验这些渠道，观察在超市结账时受到赞美的顾客之后是否更有可能向慈善机构捐款。该研究提供了来自田野的首个因果证据，表明受到友善对待的人会显著地对无关联的他人更友善，且并非通过直接模仿行为。