Free riding, public goods and cognitive dissonance: An experimental approach

• Main Authors: Guo, Lingling S., Lapuz, Elaine Christine N., Tuvida, Maervic T., Wong, Lat C.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2005
• Subjects: Human behavior; Public goods; Cognitive dissonance; Economics
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/14345
• Institution: De La Salle University

Is the motivation to free-ride based mainly on naked cost-benefit considerations? Can psychological theories of cognitive dissonance help deepen our understanding of an individual's free-riding behavior? In this paper, the authors modify a Voluntary Contributions Mechanism experiment in order to see which of 3 theories explaining free-riding behaviour best 'organizes' the experimental data. Sixty DLSU undergraduate form the subject pool. The researchers' findings strongly suggest that people do not always take account into consideration the costs and benefits of their decisions. In fact, complaint behavior is observed after individuals have established norms or standards in contributions. Also, regression results that exposure to unexpected outcomes motivates an individuals' free riding behavior.