De ce oamenii acționează mai puțin egoist când cineva privește
"...as soon as there are 'spectators aboard,' we generally become both more generous and compliant. It has to do with social control—we want to present our best side to others," explains Toke Fosgaard. (Credit: Theen Moy/Flickr)

Cu cât știm mai puțin despre ceea ce se așteaptă de la noi într-o anumită situație, cu atât suntem mai predispuși să acționăm egoist, raportează cercetătorii.

This applies both to our degree of financial generosity, as well as to the extent to which we adhere to ghiduri pentru coronavirus, according to the new study.

The researchers conducted what are known as “behavioral economics experiments” on 268 Danish participants. In the first part of the experiment, participants were grouped into pairs, with a person A and person B. Person A received 100 Danish kronor ($15.89 USD) to share, at their own discretion, with person B. Both subjects were informed that the norm was to provide their partner with half of the total amount.

“What we observed is that when there is a clear expectation of what to do in a given situation, people comply with the norm and give half of the money to their partner. Specifically, 30% of the participants opted for this solution,” explains Toke Fosgaard, an associate professor in the food and resource economics department at the University of Copenhagen and coauthor of the studiu, which is a working paper not yet published in a scientific journal.


innerself abonare grafică


Uncertainty and selfishness

In the second part of the experiment, with the same subjects, the researchers sowed uncertainty about the norm by telling person A, who had received the 100 kroner, that they could reduce or add to the amount given to person B. They also informed person A that person B wouldn’t be told anything about what had been subtracted from or added to the total.

The result was that the vast majority opted to share less than half of the total amount with person B.

“This suggests that as uncertainty of expectations arises, we are more likely to keep as much as possible for ourselves and be stingy rather than generous,” says Fosgaard.

Knowledge about how we act, depending upon whether we are clear about or uncertain of norms, is relevant in a variety of contexts. This is because our expectations of norms characterize every facet of our lives, including the ways in which we raise children, behave at work, etc. As such, Fosgaard believes the study’s outcome can be extended to the coronavirus pandemic as well:

“If accounting for and following the trends observed in our study, one should be very clear when explaining to others how they ought to behave in response to the coronavirus pandemic. If people are uncertain about which guidelines apply, most will opt to do as they please,” he says, adding:

“The findings are primarily relevant for instances in which an individual is alone—that is, removed from the judgmental eyes of others. For example, one might skip an extra hand wash at home, relax with the cleaning, or host many different groups of friends.”

COVID-19 guidelines and social norms

The study’s results could also be applicable with regards to the use of face masks, where there seems to be a degree of uncertainty about how often they ought to be changed.

“If a person is uncertain about how long a face mask may be worn, I would expect—based upon our results—that many would be tempted to extend usage, and thereby delay the purchase of new masks,” Fosgaard says.

Why this is so, is “pure speculation” to Fosgaard. However, he underscores that there is no shortage of research concerning the brain’s sistem de recompensare to indicate that we are fundamentally quite selfish and tend to do whatever best suits our own needs.

The study concludes that our actions are markedly different while being observed by others.

In the third part of the experiment, the researchers repeated both experiments, but with a twist. In this part, person A’s choice to give money to person B was posted on Facebook.

“Our results demonstrate that as soon as there are ‘spectators aboard,’ we generally become both more generous and compliant. It has to do with social control—we want to present our best side to others,” explains Fosgaard.

“That’s also why, according to our results, we are better at wearing gloves and disinfecting our mâini in a supermarket full of shoppers, as opposed to in an empty one. Because when we’re alone, we most likely do as we please.”

Despre Autori

Additional researchers at the University of Copenhagen and Sweden’s Lund University contributed to the work. - Studiu original

rupe

Cărți asemănătoare:

Obiceiuri atomice: o modalitate ușoară și dovedită de a construi obiceiuri bune și de a sparge rău

de James Clear

Atomic Habits oferă sfaturi practice pentru dezvoltarea obiceiurilor bune și a le distruge pe cele rele, bazate pe cercetări științifice privind schimbarea comportamentului.

Click pentru mai multe informatii sau pentru a comanda

Cele patru tendințe: profilurile de personalitate indispensabile care dezvăluie cum să-ți faci viața mai bună (și viața celorlalți, mai bine)

de Gretchen Rubin

Cele patru tendințe identifică patru tipuri de personalitate și explică modul în care înțelegerea propriilor tendințe vă poate ajuta să vă îmbunătățiți relațiile, obiceiurile de lucru și fericirea generală.

Click pentru mai multe informatii sau pentru a comanda

Gândește-te din nou: Puterea de a ști ceea ce nu știi

de Adam Grant

Think Again explorează modul în care oamenii își pot schimba mintea și atitudinea și oferă strategii pentru îmbunătățirea gândirii critice și luarea deciziilor.

Click pentru mai multe informatii sau pentru a comanda

Corpul păstrează punctajul: creierul, mintea și corpul în vindecarea traumei

de Bessel van der Kolk

The Body Keeps the Score discută legătura dintre traumă și sănătatea fizică și oferă perspective asupra modului în care trauma poate fi tratată și vindecată.

Click pentru mai multe informatii sau pentru a comanda

Psihologia banilor: lecții atemporale despre bogăție, lăcomie și fericire

de Morgan Housel

Psihologia banilor examinează modalitățile în care atitudinile și comportamentele noastre în jurul banilor ne pot modela succesul financiar și bunăstarea generală.

Click pentru mai multe informatii sau pentru a comanda