Cited by 242Experimental Behavioral Economics StudiesCOVID-19 Prevention and ImpactDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Prosociality predicts health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Open access
Campos-Mercade, Pol, Meier, Armando N., Schneider, Florian H., Wengström, Erik·2021·Journal of Public Economics

Abstract

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.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104367

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  • Achieving the five pillars of a successful fight against emerging infectious diseases requires an ethical framework of prosociality, meaning that individuals and government regulations prioritise societal needs over narrow individual interests.

    “To accomplish these five pillars requires an ethical framework of prosociality—the orientation of individuals and government regulations to the needs of society as a whole, rather than to narrow individual interests.”

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1 of the 107 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Zettler, Ingo, Schild, Christoph, Lilleholt, Lau, Böhm, Robert, 2020. Individual differences in accepting personal restrictions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a Danish adult sample. PsyArXiv preprint.

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Authors
Campos-Mercade, P., Meier, A. N., Schneider, F. H., & Wengström, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Basel (CH)
  • University of Zurich (CH)
  • Lund University (SE)
Corresponding author
Schneider, Florian H.
Venue
Journal of Public Economics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2021-03
Volume
195
Pages
104367
ISSN
0047-2727 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3026358667
Cited by
242
References
107
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 9
FWCI
61.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Public Economics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (publishedVersion)
  • edoc (University of Basel) (acceptedVersion)
  • IRIS (submittedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Danmarks Grundforskningsfond (DNRF134)
  • Torsten Söderbergs Stiftelse
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (100018_185176, P2BSP1_181847)
  • Universität Zürich
  • Universität Basel
  • Københavns Universitet
  • University of Chicago
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Keywords
prosocial behavior, COVID-19 pandemic, health behavior, social distancing, masking, socially responsible behavior, disease transmission, behavioral stability, public health policy

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