Institutional trust and prosocial behavior in China: an experimental approach

We present three studies to demonstrate the important role of institutional trust in promoting prosocial behavior in China. In study 1, we used a Chinese national survey and found that institutional trust significantly predicted people’s donation and volunteer activities. In study 2, we experimentally examined the effects of institutional trust in public goods games. Participants allocated more money to public accounts when a positive impression of institutions was implicitly activated than when a negative impression or no concepts were activated. In study 3, we tested the effects of institutional trust in a field experiment with a “pay what you want” strategy. In a charity bazaar, participants who received leaflets that implicitly activated institutional concepts paid more money.本研究开展三项实证研究，以验证制度信任（institutional trust）对中国情境下民众亲社会行为（prosocial behavior）的重要促进作用。第一项研究依托中国全国性抽样调查数据，发现制度信任可显著正向预测个体的捐赠行为与志愿活动参与情况。第二项研究通过实验法，在公共物品博弈（public goods game）范式中检验制度信任的影响效应。结果显示，当个体对制度的正向印象被内隐激活时，其向公共账户分配的资金额度显著高于负向印象激活组与无概念激活对照组。第三项研究采用‘按需付费’（pay what you want）策略开展现场实验，进一步验证制度信任的作用效果。在慈善义卖市集现场，接收了内隐激活制度概念宣传传单的参与者，其支付金额显著更高。