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Rationality in Social Science pp 221–244Cite as

Opposing Effects of Objective and Subjective Social Status on Prosociality: Theory and Quasi-Experiment

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Abstract

Previous research in sociology, social psychology and economics on the question if and to what extent social status groups differ in prosocial behavior provides only inconclusive and contradictory evidence. While some studies find a negative relationship between social status and prosociality, others find a positive one. We propose a formal model and predict that (1) objective social status is positively correlated with prosociality and (2) subjective social status is negatively correlated with prosociality, given statistical control of objective status. These hypotheses are put to an empirical test using data from a quasi-experiment with over 600 ninth-graders from Germany. The data include measures of objective and subjective social status. Our findings support both hypotheses and provide direct evidence for a self-enhancing bias in subjective social status. We therefore contribute to explaining the inconclusive findings of subsequent research on the status-prosociality nexus.

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Acknowledgments

Funding by the German Research Foundation (LI 1730/2-1, TU 409/2-1, TU 409/3-1) and Swiss National Science Foundation (grant number 100017L_169286) is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Deutschland

    Andreas Tutić

  2. University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Ulf Liebe

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  1. Andreas Tutić
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Correspondence to Andreas Tutić .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Ivar Krumpal

  2. Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Werner Raub

  3. Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Andreas Tutić

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Tutić, A., Liebe, U. (2021). Opposing Effects of Objective and Subjective Social Status on Prosociality: Theory and Quasi-Experiment. In: Krumpal, I., Raub, W., Tutić, A. (eds) Rationality in Social Science. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-33536-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-33536-6_11

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