Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17557
Authors: Sara Lowes; Johannes Haushofer; Abednego Musau; David David Ndetei; Nathan Nunn; Moritz Poll; Nancy Qian
Abstract: While observational evidence suggests that people behave more prosocially towards members of their own ethnic group, many laboratory studies fail to find this effect. One possible explanation is that coethnic preference only emerges during times of stress. To test this hypothesis, we pharmacologically increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol, after which participants complete laboratory experiments with coethnics and noncoethnics. We find mixed evidence that increased cortisol decreases prosocial behavior. Coethnic preferences do not vary with cortisol. However, in contrast to previous studies, we find strong and robust evidence of coethnic preference.
Keywords: cooperation; social preferences; ethnicity; stress
JEL Codes: O12; Z10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| hydrocortisone (I19) | cortisol levels (I19) |
| cortisol levels (I19) | prosocial behavior (D64) |
| coethnicity (J15) | prosocial behavior (D64) |
| cortisol levels (I19) | coethnic preference (J15) |