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Massive field quasi-experiments reveal inverted-U causal links between mood and prosocial decisions


Abstract: Prosocial behaviors are important for resolving conflicts in groups and societies. A key question in conflict management is how mood influences prosocial behavior. For 50 years, there has been a controversy: some scholars believe positive moods boost prosocial behavior; other scholars believe positive moods reduce prosocial behavior. We resolve this controversy by using massive field quasi-experiments with plausibly exogenous continuous treatment variables, which can reveal the full continuous causal relationship between a treatment variable and an outcome variable without assuming anything about the shape of this relationship. Three quasi-experiments reveal inverted-U causal relationships between mood and prosocial behavior: more positive mood triggers (i.e., more sunlight, more positive news, more positive stock-market returns) first boost, then reduce, prosocial behavior. Our findings provide insights for leaders seeking to ameliorate conflicts by promoting prosocial behavior: their optimal strategy will depend on whether the current mood of their targets is relatively positive (vs. negative).

Keywords: field experiment, quasi-experiment, decision making, prosocial behavior, non-profit organization

David Daniels, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Email: bizdpd@nus.edu.sg

Polly Kang, INSEAD (Singapore)
Email: polly.kang@insead.edu

 


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