Working Paper: NBER ID: w30363
Authors: Johannes Haushofer; Sara Lowes; Abednego Musau; David M. 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: stress; ethnicity; prosocial behavior; cortisol; coethnic preference
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 (Y60) |
| cortisol (Y60) | prosocial behavior (D64) |
| hydrocortisone (I19) | prosocial behavior (D64) |
| cortisol (Y60) | coethnic preferences (J15) |
| hydrocortisone (I19) | coethnic preferences (J15) |