Social Class and (Un)Ethical Behaviour: Causal and Correlational Evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gsottbauer, Elisabeth; Mueller, Daniel; Mueller, Samuel; Trautmann, Stefan T.; Zudenkova, Galina
• 署名单位: University of Innsbruck; University of Munich; University of Mannheim; Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg; Tilburg University; Dortmund University of Technology
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueac022
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 2392-2411
• 关键词: Prosocial behavior; individuals; INEQUALITY; IDENTITY; ECONOMICS; culture; income; less

摘要

Are individuals of higher socio-economic status less ethical than those of lower status? Highly popularised research findings claim that this is the case. This paper provides evidence against this claim, based on data from two large survey experiments with more than 11,000 participants. We prime social status in two heterogeneous samples of the German population and then elicit ethical behaviour in an incentivised experimental task. Thus, our data allows us to study both correlation (using demographic data) and causality (using the priming). Our study rejects the claim that higher social status individuals are less ethical on both accounts.