Great Expectations
I was reading an article in Ode the other day, about economics and altruism.
The article’s basic tenet is that current economic theory is premised on the belief that people will generally work 
toward their own material advantage. But, they point out, recent research in behavioral economics finds that people are much more altruistic than standard economics gives them credit for.
Here’s the part I found most interesting: Sometime in the 1990s, Robert Frank, a Cornell University economist, conducted research to test the hypothesis: “Exposure to the self-interest model commonly used in economics alters the extent to which people behave in self-interested ways.” A less neutral reading of that might be: People who believe that selfish behavior is the norm behave more selfishly.
And here’s what he found:
[E]conomics professors gave less to charity than their university colleagues; and when asked to imagine they’d found somebody else’s $100 bill, economics students were three times more likely to say they’d keep the money than students from the astronomy department.
The implication is that being steeped in economic theory, thinking everyone is out for their own gain, causes one to be more selfish, less altruistic. Now, I don’t know if that’s true, but the idea of expectations and outcomes is interesting. According to the author, negativity begets negativity. I have no quarrel with that—I can think of any number of times where someone’s rudeness has soured my day.
That leads in some interesting directions. What would an altruistic-based economics look like? That’s worth thinking about, isn’t it?
It also got me thinking about education, and how the same thing holds true there: Expectations play a huge role in educational attainment. Teacher expectations, parent expectations, even peer expectations.
I have never really thought about how my expectations affect my everyday life. Or how they affect people around me. I am going to pay attention to this for the next few weeks, and will report back to you. Suggestions for experiments (that won’t get me fired) are welcome.
I think the idea of negative expectations could also be applied to the current debate about healthcare reform. So much of the rhetoric is couched in negative, highly inflammatory language, i.e., “socialized medicine,” that has little connection to healthcare, the expectation being that any kind of public plan would be bad, inefficient, bureaucratic and rationed. If I understand it correctly, members of Congress already participate in a so-called government-run plan, and it sounds awfully good to me. These kind of negative expectations about a public plan have nearly removed it from the debate and clouded the real question: how do we ensure good and affordable healthcare for everyone in this country? We have a negative expectation that it can’t be done. Of course it can. We like to say this is the greatest country on earth–if that’s truly the case, why do we consider healthcare a benefit, affordable only to some, and not a right?
Well-said, Julie! It seems that a lot of folks come out for or against things before they actually hear what those things are. Is it personal experience driving that, or is it something else?
Liz,
I really enjoyed this blog post. The topic is fascinating and you also introduced me to Ode, which I want to explore further. Based on my completely unscientific observations of our workplace United Way and internal giving campaigns, I’d say there’s definitely something to the “altruistic economics” idea. Once people start donating, others want to participate and be included in the giving process. I’m not an economics expert at all, but it seems like the self-interest model of economics fails to factor in the non-material benefits of giving (feeling connected to a cause larger than oneself, doing something that reflects one’s values, etc.). Anyhow, thanks again. You’ve inspired me to continue my unscientific study of altruistic economics by doing some charitable giving this week. Then I’ll tell some friends and co-workers about the donations and maybe they’ll follow suit!
Katie Kosseff
Information Management Specialist
Lifetrack Resources
709 University Ave W
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-265-2326; katiek@lifetrackresources.org