dc.contributor.author
Kanngiesser, Patricia
dc.contributor.author
Serko, Daniil
dc.contributor.author
Woike, Jan K.
dc.date.accessioned
2023-05-31T07:04:47Z
dc.date.available
2023-05-31T07:04:47Z
dc.identifier.uri
https://refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub188/39614
dc.identifier.uri
http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-39332
dc.description.abstract
Promises are voluntary commitments to perform a future action and are often thought to be powerful levers for behavioral change. Here we studied the effectiveness of promises in two preregistered, incentivized field experiments with German students (N = 406) on the premises of a cafeteria. In Experiment 1, the majority of participants (63%) kept their promise to pay back at least half of a € 4-endowment, even though there was no foreseeable cost of breaking the promise, reputational or otherwise. Significantly fewer participants (22%) paid back money in a control group that faced a simple decision to return money or not. In Experiment 2, the majority of participants (54%) kept their promise to add a provided stamp to a postcard and mail it back (anonymously) within a week. We found similar return rates (52%) for a second group for which the word “promise” was omitted from the commitment. Our findings show that participants kept their word outside the laboratory while pursuing everyday activities even when there were no foreseeable negative consequences for breaking them, demonstrating that promises are effective levers for behavioral change.
en
dc.rights.uri
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject
behavioral ethics
en
dc.subject
behavioral change
en
dc.subject
decision making
en
dc.subject.ddc
000 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke::000 Informatik, Wissen, Systeme::000 Informatik, Informationswissenschaft, allgemeine Werke
dc.title
Promises on the go: A field study on keeping one's word
dc.type
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.articlenumber
1097239
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.doi
10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1097239
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.journaltitle
Frontiers in Psychology
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.originalpublishername
Frontiers Media S.A.
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.volume
14 (2023)
dcterms.bibliographicCitation.url
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1097239
refubium.affiliation
Erziehungswissenschaft und Psychologie
refubium.note.author
We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Initiative of Freie Universität Berlin.
refubium.resourceType.isindependentpub
no
dcterms.accessRights.openaire
open access
refubium.resourceType.provider
DeepGreen