The endogenous nature of the measurement of social preferences

Smith, John (2010): The endogenous nature of the measurement of social preferences.

Abstract

We present evidence against the standard assumptions that social preferences are stable and can be measured in a reliable, nonintrusive manner. Researchers often measure social preferences by posing dictator type allocation decisions. The Social Value Orientation (SVO) is a particular sequence of dictator decisions. We vary the order in which the SVO and a lager stakes dictator game are presented. In our first study, we find that prosocial subjects act even more prosocially when the SVO is administered first, whereas selfish subjects are unaffected by the order. In our second study, we vary the order of the SVO and a nonstandard dictator game. We do not find the effect found in the first study. This suggests that the first result is driven by choices involving the size of surplus. Although we cannot determine whether the timing affects preferences or the measure of preferences, our results are incompatible with the assumptions that social preferences are stable and can be measured in a reliable, nonintrusive manner.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: experimental economics; social values; dictator game; social value orientation
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D64 - Altruism ; Philanthropy; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C9 - Design of Experiments > C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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