People Are More Moral in Uncertain Environments

Yiting CHEN; Songfa ZHONG

doi:10.3982/ECTA20574

People Are More Moral in Uncertain Environments

Yiting CHEN
, Songfa ZHONG^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Economics

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We conduct a series of experiments and document a robust behavioral pattern whereby people behave more morally in uncertain environments than degenerate deterministic ones. We show that this pattern is weakened when the moral implication of behavior is diminished or when uncertainty pertains to others rather than oneself. These findings are incompatible with standard models that respect dominance. We propose a mechanism based on the anxiety aspect of uncertain environments whereby people act morally as if their moral behavior can help deliver a better outcome. We further delve into the complexity aspect of uncertainty to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of these findings.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	439-462
Number of pages	24
Journal	Econometrica
Volume	93
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA20574
Publication status	Published - Mar 2025

Bibliographical note

We thank the helpful comments and discussions of Soo Hong Chew, Syngjoo Choi, Itzhak Gilboa, Lorenz Goette, Yoram Halevy, Jian Li, Yucheng Liang, Wooyoung Lim, George Loewenstein, Bin Miao, Jianying Qiu, Xiangyu Qu, Emanuel Vespa, Peter Wakker, and Chen Zhao, seminar participants at Carnegie Mellon University, CUHK-HKU-HKUST Joint Theory Seminar Series, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, and Virtual East Asia Experimental and Behavioral Economics Seminar Series, and participants at Risk, Uncertainty and Decision (2023); Decision: Theory, Experiments, and Applications (2022); and ESA Global Around-the-Clock Virtual Conference (2020). The previous version of this project was circulated under the title “Uncertainty Motivates Morality.”

Funding

For ﬁnancial support, Chen acknowledges National Natural Science Foundation of China (72303195) and Zhong acknowledges Singapore Ministry of Education (Academic Research Fund Tier 1 from the National University of Singapore).

Keywords

experiment
lying aversion
morality
social preference
Uncertainty

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3982/ECTA20574Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "People Are More Moral in Uncertain Environments",

abstract = "We conduct a series of experiments and document a robust behavioral pattern whereby people behave more morally in uncertain environments than degenerate deterministic ones. We show that this pattern is weakened when the moral implication of behavior is diminished or when uncertainty pertains to others rather than oneself. These findings are incompatible with standard models that respect dominance. We propose a mechanism based on the anxiety aspect of uncertain environments whereby people act morally as if their moral behavior can help deliver a better outcome. We further delve into the complexity aspect of uncertainty to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of these findings.",

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AB - We conduct a series of experiments and document a robust behavioral pattern whereby people behave more morally in uncertain environments than degenerate deterministic ones. We show that this pattern is weakened when the moral implication of behavior is diminished or when uncertainty pertains to others rather than oneself. These findings are incompatible with standard models that respect dominance. We propose a mechanism based on the anxiety aspect of uncertain environments whereby people act morally as if their moral behavior can help deliver a better outcome. We further delve into the complexity aspect of uncertainty to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of these findings.

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KW - lying aversion

KW - morality

KW - social preference

KW - Uncertainty

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People Are More Moral in Uncertain Environments

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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