By ‘conformism’ social psychology refers to the inclination of an individual to change spontaneously (without any order or request by anyone) his judgements and (or) actions to conform to the “socially prevailing” judgements and (or) actions . Although economists often admit social-interpersonal and intertemporal dependence of choices (see, for example, Lerner [1972] and Hicks[1965] ), they prefer not to include such phenomena in their models. The most commonly alleged reason is the need for simplicity. Such a perspective is adequate if the predictions of the models built on broader behavioural assumptions are not qualitatively new. Several studies , however, seem to suggest this condition does not hold in general. The present work aims to address this problem. In particular, the applied focus will be on voluntary contribution (and public goods) within a setting where a specific social influence, conformism, is considered. On voluntary contribution standard theory is often in contrast with observations from the field. Conformism is a major social influence and it has been broadly studied and clearly identified by social psychologists. Moreover, because of the independence of its definition from its subjective causes we do not need to formulate ad hoc hypotheses (and endless disputes) about human motivations and ends.
Economic Theory and Conformism
LUZZATI, TOMMASO
1999-01-01
Abstract
By ‘conformism’ social psychology refers to the inclination of an individual to change spontaneously (without any order or request by anyone) his judgements and (or) actions to conform to the “socially prevailing” judgements and (or) actions . Although economists often admit social-interpersonal and intertemporal dependence of choices (see, for example, Lerner [1972] and Hicks[1965] ), they prefer not to include such phenomena in their models. The most commonly alleged reason is the need for simplicity. Such a perspective is adequate if the predictions of the models built on broader behavioural assumptions are not qualitatively new. Several studies , however, seem to suggest this condition does not hold in general. The present work aims to address this problem. In particular, the applied focus will be on voluntary contribution (and public goods) within a setting where a specific social influence, conformism, is considered. On voluntary contribution standard theory is often in contrast with observations from the field. Conformism is a major social influence and it has been broadly studied and clearly identified by social psychologists. Moreover, because of the independence of its definition from its subjective causes we do not need to formulate ad hoc hypotheses (and endless disputes) about human motivations and ends.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
