Trust, Happiness, and Pro-social Behavior

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Carattini, Stefano; Roesti, Matthias
• 署名单位: University System of Georgia; Georgia State University; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; University of St Gallen
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01303
• 发表日期: 2025-07
• 页码: 967-981
• 关键词: public-goods; COOPERATION; culture; POLICY; welfare; happier; VALUES; would; LIFE; gdp

摘要

This paper combines several large-scale surveys and empirical strategies to shed new light on the determinants of cooperative behavior. We provide evidence indicating that the level of trust maximizing subjective well-being tends to be above the income maximizing level. Higher trust is also linked to more cooperative and pro-social behaviors, including the private provision of global public goods such as climate change mitigation. Consistent with warm glow theories of pro-social behavior, our results indicate that individuals may enjoy being more cooperative than what would lead them to maximize income, which can be reflected in higher levels of subjective well-being.