Lecture 9: self-interest and beyond

Question 1

self-interest

Answer 1

is one of the assumptions of rational theory
with this comes envy
apparently our happiness is also dependent on social comparison

Question 2

two types of envy?

Answer 2

• benign envy (benijden)
• Malicious envy (afgunst)

different feelings and therefore generate different behavior

Question 3

remote association test

Answer 3

18 three word association tests and asked the word that belongs to them
found that people work harder if they feel benign envy than malicious envy.
admiration also did not have this motivating effect.

Question 4

iphone study

Answer 4

was about deservingness.
- people would pay more for the iphone when beingn envy was induced through telling the participants about how someone else obtained it.

Question 5

behavioral findings that are in conflicts of self-interest

Answer 5

• motive of self-interest; people are self-interested
• norm of self-interest: people are thought to be self interested

Question 6

Miller

Answer 6

researched norm of self-interest.
we like to explain behavior in terms of self-interest.
people don’t buy the story that you would do something just for someone else.

55-year old man with playground in front of his house

Question 7

What is the origin of the norm of self-interest

Answer 7

broken windows theory says that how self-interested people are depends on the rules that apply in that situation.

Question 8

Keizer, Lindenberg & Steg (2008)

Answer 8

envelope from clean or messy mailbox
- messy envirnoment signals you can violate the norms and people would take the 5 euro’s

Question 9

Frank, gilovich and Refan

Answer 9

studied the effect of knowing the rational theory on self-interested behavior.
- donated less to charity
- chose defect option more in prisoners dilemma
- were less honest
- but did dependent on the type of professor

Question 10

ultimatum game

Answer 10

proposer has 100 euro’s to divide and other gets to reject or accept.

Question 11

expectations for the ultimatum game and reality

Answer 11

rational theory expects 99/1, but people do 50/50, because of fairness and fear of rejection.
similair when stakes were raised and in other countries

Question 12

Kahneman et al., on the ultimatum game

Answer 12

researched it with variations
- also fair if the offers couldn’t be rejected
- subjects sacrificed money to punish a proposer who behaved unfairly

Question 13

dictator game

Answer 13

proposer still divides, but there is no rejection or acceptation
the offers are typically lower, but still positive.

Question 14

George A. Akerlof

Answer 14

won nobel prize for the market of lemons
- information assymetry
- quality uncertainty
- market mechanism

Question 15

information assymetry

Answer 15

one person knows more than the other.
studied with poker chips
- from this we can conclude self-interested behavior is alive and well

Question 16

Van Dijk & Vermont 2000 dictator game

Answer 16

replicated the poker chip experiment with the dictator game and found that people are nicer in this game than in the ultimatum game, because you automatically take the others perspective.
- from this we can conclude non-selfish behavior is very much alive and in good shape

Question 17

Delta game

Answer 17

similair to ultimatum game, but is the responder rejects the offer is multiplied by delta. delta is a number between zero and one.
if the number one it is the dictator game, but zero the ultimatum game

Question 18

findings from the delta game

Answer 18

if people are powerless (delta zero) the offers are nicer.
people are self-interested to some extent, but there are individual differences

Question 19

Van Lange about social value orientation

Answer 19

gave people an imaginary scenario in which you and others can earn money and asked them which outcome they preferred.
found that prosocials often have
- more older siblings
- more secure attachment in romantic relations

Question 20

moral emotions

Answer 20

are feelings related to the welfare of others rather than one’s own (haidt, 2003)

Question 21

moral sentiments and rationality

Answer 21

moral sentiments compete with rational calculations of moral sentiments.
a person with strong guilt feelings won’t cheat on a test even if it is in their material interest to do so.

Question 22

guilt and shame behavior

Answer 22

guilt makes people look voor reparation with the person that they have done something to.
when they feel shame there was not really a change in behavior (studied in 10-coin-give some dilemma).