Using Pandemic Behavior to Test the External Validity of Laboratory Measurements of Risk Aversion and Guilt

Trevor Collier; Stephen Cotten; Justin Roush

doi:10.1016/j.socec.2022.101938

Using Pandemic Behavior to Test the External Validity of Laboratory Measurements of Risk Aversion and Guilt

J Behav Exp Econ. 2022 Sep 9:101938. doi: 10.1016/j.socec.2022.101938. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Trevor Collier¹, Stephen Cotten², Justin Roush³

Affiliations

¹ University of Dayton, Dayton, OH.
² University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, TX.
³ Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH.

Abstract

We test whether laboratory measures of individual preferences for risk and guilt relate to risk-connected behaviors in a pandemic, such as socializing, dining in at restaurants, and hand washing. We utilize a survey administrated to a nationally representative subject pool in the United States in April, 2020 - the month following the declaration of a national state of emergency in response to the global outbreak of COVID-19. We find that higher levels of risk aversion are associated with risk-reducing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, we do not find strong evidence that guilt relates to the same behavior.

Keywords: external validity; pandemic, risk aversion, inequality aversion, guilt, experiment.