Pronoun drop and prosocial behavior: experimental evidence from Japan

Autor: He, Tai-Sen, Riyanto, Yohanes E., Tanaka, Saori C., Yamada, Katsunori
Zdroj: Journal of the Economic Science Association; 20240101, Issue: Preprints p1-13, 13p
Abstrakt: We join a growing body of literature suggesting that the languages people speak influence their decision-making. We tested whether dropping the first-person pronoun “I” affects pro-social behavior in a dictator game-like setting. To this end, we conducted an online randomized, incentivized experiment with a socially representative sample of 2000 Japanese respondents. We provide compelling causal evidence that pronoun dropping reduces pro-sociality. Given that our results provide little empirical support for previous research findings linking first-person pronoun use and lower pro-sociality, we prescribe caution in using languages as a proxy for culture in several cross-country empirical studies in economics.
Databáze: Supplemental Index
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