Paying to Be Nice: Consistency and Costly Prosocial Behavior
研究发现，初始亲社会行为的成本越高，越能促使后续行为保持一致，因为高成本行为能强化个人的亲社会身份认同；而低成本行为则可能导致后续行为减少。
Building on previous research in economics and psychology, we propose that the costliness of initial prosocial behavior positively influences whether that behavior leads to consistent future behaviors. We suggest that costly prosocial behaviors serve as a signal of prosocial identity and that people subsequently behave in line with that self-perception. In contrast, costless prosocial acts do not signal much about one's prosocial identity, so subsequent behavior is less likely to be consistent and may even show the reductions in prosocial behavior associated with licensing. The results of a laboratory experiment and a large field experiment converge to support our account. This paper was accepted by Brad Barber, Teck Ho, and Terrance Odean, special issue editors.