Can Priming Cooperation Increase Public Good Contributions? — TEI-tagged view

Michalis Drouvelis, Robert Metcalfe, Nattavudh Powdthavee · 2015 · behavioral-economics · doi:10.1007/s11238-015-9481-4 · full text at the source · TEI xml · tagged edition · index · concepts · authors
Where this record's text came from. faceted 2026-08 by reading the locally held text (pdftext); every evidence string verified as an exact substring of that text before merging. The paper is a single experiment collected in two waves (2009 and 2011); the waves were pooled after a Mann–Whitney test found no difference between them, but neither wave alone reached the 5% level (wave 1 p = 0.125; wave 2 p = 0.069), so I did not code this as an internal replication. Claim type is coded 'existence' rather than 'mechanism' because the paper establishes that the effect occurs and explicitly reports that the candidate channel (beliefs about others) was not significant; the mechanism is left open ('priming primarily seems to work by changing subjects' preferences'). 2026-08-17 and 2026-08-25 schema-0.3 passes: every quote verified as an exact substring of the staged text and anchored at merge time; concept terms verified present; every edge endpoint an existing node.
Some words in these quotes contain the wrong character. The PDF this text was extracted from substituted 53 characters inside a word — a currency sign or a stray accent where a letter pair belongs, as in signi¢cantly for significantly, or a single ligature glyph, as in confidence. They are valid characters in the wrong place, so they survive every encoding check. The quotes keep them for the same reason as above, and a search of this page will not find the affected words.
Other fields define these differently the same word, defined another way in another discipline
null-hypothesis 3 fields · priming 2 fields
Tags on this paper every tag the record carries, whether or not the words occur in the text below — a number is how many papers in the corpus carry that tag; a tag with no number is unique to this paper
priming50 conceptual priming2 public goods game framing5 anchoring cooperative priming contributions free riding beliefs3 preferences2 word-search puzzle behavioural-experiment117

Our tag layer for this paper

Priming analysis (Sivroni & Stark meta-disciplinary definition; cited to Sivroni et al. 2023)
Three characteristics: A · association S · secondariness M · modulation
P · primecooperation-associated words embedded in an initial word-search puzzle
T · targethow many tokens to contribute in a one-shot linear public goods game
B · baselineneutrally-primed treatment (neutral words in the same puzzle)
E · priming effecthigher voluntary contributions to the public good
A · associationactivating the concept of cooperation shifts behaviour toward cooperative, pro-social contribution
Cross-disciplinary analysis
content-tags & facets: phenomenon · claim-type · cross-domain-transfer · mechanism · claim-relation · replication-status · limitation — grounded in the full text
phenomenoncooperative priming in a public goods game— “In our paper, we focus on cooperative priming in a standard linear public goods game in which randomly selected participants make decisions in situations where personal and group interests are misaligned.”
claim-typeexistence— “Our findings indicate that cooperative priming increases contributions in a one-shot public goods game from approximately 25–36 % compared with the non-primed group.”
method — evidence— “The priming manipulation was carried out through an initial word-search puzzle that each participant self-completed at the beginning of each experimental session (e.g. Bargh et al. 2001).”
mechanismTHE PRIME IS ARGUED TO WORK THROUGH PREFERENCES BECAUSE IT DEMONSTRABLY DID NOT WORK THROUGH BELIEFS - a null result carrying the mechanism claim: priming does not affect subjects' beliefs about other group members' contributions, INDICATING THAT PRIMING PRIMARILY SEEMS TO WORK BY CHANGING SUBJECTS' PREFERENCES ABOUT HOW MUCH TO CONTRIBUTE. The absent effect is the evidence, not a caveat about it— “Our results also suggest that priming does not affect subjects’ beliefs about other group members’ contributions, ceteris paribus, indicating that priming primarily seems to work by changing subjects’ preferences about how much to contribute.”mechanisms[0]
mechanismA ONE-SHOT GAME IS CHOSEN TO BUY A CLEAN CAUSE RATHER THAN A REALISTIC SETTING: the reason for choosing a one-shot interaction over repeated interactions is that we wanted to investigate THE PURE EFFECTS OF OUR PRIMING PROCESS, without these being confounded with STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY ARISE FROM REPEATED INTERACTION. The design gives up the question of persistence to isolate the question of existence, and says so— “The reason for choosing a one-shot interaction over repeated interactions is that we wanted to investigate the pure effects of our priming process on subjects’ cooperative behaviour, without these being confounded with strategic considerations that may arise from repeated interaction.”mechanisms[1]
mechanismEXPOSURE TO THE PRIME IS GUARANTEED RATHER THAN ASSUMED, by handing out the puzzle's answers: at the end of the allotted time, the participants received the solutions to the word-search puzzle TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE IN THE TREATMENT GROUP HAD BEEN PRIMED with words associated with cooperation. A subject who found none of the fifteen words still meets them— “At the end of the allotted time, the participants received the solutions to the word-search puzzle to ensure that everyone in the treatment group had been primed with words associated with cooperation.”mechanisms[2]
mechanismTHE DEMAND-EFFECT OBJECTION IS ANSWERED BY ASKING THE SUBJECTS AND THEN CONTROLLING FOR THEIR ANSWER: NONE of the subjects in the non-priming treatment and 16 OUT OF 75 in the priming treatment said the first task had affected the second, and with a dummy for those subjects the priming coefficient stays significant for contributions and insignificant for beliefs. The control is reported with its own numbers rather than asserted— “None of the subjects in the non-priming treatment and 16 out of 75 subjects in the priming treatment answered this question positively. When we include a dummy variable controlling for those who reported that the priming task affected their subsequent behaviour, the estimated coefficient on the variable “Priming” remains statistically…mechanisms[3]
extends public goods experiments on explicit cooperation-fostering mechanisms (Fehr and Gächter 2000, 2002; Sefton et al. 2007; Isaac and Walker 1988; Bochet et al. 2006)— “By contrast, we explore the effect of a significantly more subtle intervention on the incentive to free ride in social dilemmas.”claim_relations[0]
extends economic priming studies of religious identity, social outlook and social identity (Benjamin et al. 2010a, b; McKay et al. 2010; Atlas and Putterman 2011; Cappelen and Drange Hole 2011)— “Thus far, a few notable studies have examined how priming on religious identities, optimistic social outlook, and social identity affects economic outcomes, including risk preferences, behaviour in trust and gift exchange games and dictator giving (Benjamin et al. 2010a, b; McKay et al. 2010; Atlas and Putterman 2011; Cappelen and Drange Hole…claim_relations[1]
contradicts other-regarding preference models (Fehr and Schmidt 1999; Bolton and Ockenfels 2000)— “Even behavioural theories (e.g. Fehr and Schmidt 1999; Bolton and Ockenfels 2000), which can explain contributions to the public good, cannot account for any subtle effect inherent in the environment in which individuals interact, such as priming.”claim_relations[2]
sensepriming - taken by these authors from psychology in a FORMAL definition and then used in economics: previously activated information impacting the processing of subsequent information. The definition is procedural, which is why it can be transplanted across fields— “It is formally defined as “the procedural feature that some previously activated information impacts on the processing of subsequent information”senses[0]
sensepriming, as distinguished from framing and anchoring - the distinction is drawn on WHAT IS LEFT UNTOUCHED: priming reinforces a pathway to a stimulus without re-describing the decision problem, whereas framing re-describes an equivalent problem and anchoring redirects attention— “Priming, on the other hand, involves exposing a subject’s mind to a stimulus, concept, or memory—without requiring the re-description of the decision problem—so that his or her pathways to that particular stimulus, concept, or memory are reinforced and would also later be reflected on the processing of subsequent information (Kolb and Wishaw…senses[1]
sensecooperative priming, as delivered here - fifteen of the twenty hidden words carry the concept and five are neutral in both conditions, so the two treatments differ only in the fifteen. The construct is a WORD LIST, chosen by pre-test rating— “Each list contained the same set of five neutral words to be found (carpet, lamp, plant, shampoo, window), and the remaining 15 words being either associated with the concept of cooperation or completely neutral, depending on the treatment.”senses[2]
sensebeliefs about others’ contributions - measured, unincentivised, and elicited AFTER the contribution decision, which the authors say makes them endogenous to the thing they are meant to explainsenses[3]
controla post-experimental questionnaire asked subjects outright whether they thought the priming task had affected their decisions — held — rules out that subjects saw through the priming manipulation and responded to what they believed the experimenter wanted
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controls[0]
controlbelief elicitation was deliberately NOT incentivised — held — rules out that paying for beliefs introduces an income effect which would confound the emotions being elicited
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controls[1]
controlthe puzzle solutions were handed out at the end of the allotted time — held — rules out that a subject who failed to solve the puzzle was never primed at all, leaving the treatment group only partly treated
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controls[2]
differs inpriming —distinct-from→ framing — WHETHER THE DECISION PROBLEM IS RE-DESCRIBED: framing restates a logically equivalent problem in a different light; priming leaves the problem alone and reinforces a pathway to a concept
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concept_edges[0]
notepriming —distinct-from→ framing — A boundary drawn by the authors in their own voice, not inferred by us - the sentence exists only to separate the three terms.
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concept_edges[0]
weightpriming —distinct-from→ framing — 0.95
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concept_edges[0]
differs inpriming —distinct-from→ anchoring — WHAT IS REDIRECTED: anchoring fixes the decision-maker's attention on a single trait or piece of information, leaving the problem and the concepts alone; priming reinforces a pathway to a concept without directing attention to it
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Quotation withheld — this paper is not ours to reproduce, and the page has already quoted as much of it as the rights layer allows. The tag, its field and its confidence stand; the sentence is at the publisher.
concept_edges[1]
notepriming —distinct-from→ anchoring — The second half of the same distinction, and the sentence defines both neighbours in one breath - framing by re-description, anchoring by attention.
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concept_edges[1]
weightpriming —distinct-from→ anchoring — 0.95
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concept_edges[1]
effect directioncooperative priming —causes→ contributions — increases
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Quotation withheld — this paper is not ours to reproduce, and the page has already quoted as much of it as the rights layer allows. The tag, its field and its confidence stand; the sentence is at the publisher.
concept_edges[2]
notecooperative priming —causes→ contributions — The headline result, in the abstract's own words. Averages are 4.99 tokens neutral against 7.17 primed, one-sided Mann-Whitney p = 0.044.
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concept_edges[2]
weightcooperative priming —causes→ contributions — 0.9
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concept_edges[2]
effect directionpriming —causes→ free riding — reduces
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concept_edges[3]
notepriming —causes→ free riding — The same result stated as a reduction rather than an increase. Kept as its own edge because free riding is the behaviour the incentives reward, and it is the endpoint an economist would search on.
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concept_edges[3]
weightpriming —causes→ free riding — 0.85
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concept_edges[3]
effect directionpriming —causes→ beliefs — no-change
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Quotation withheld — this paper is not ours to reproduce, and the page has already quoted as much of it as the rights layer allows. The tag, its field and its confidence stand; the sentence is at the publisher.
concept_edges[4]
notepriming —causes→ beliefs — THE LOAD-BEARING NULL. This absence is what licenses the preferences claim in the same sentence, so it is not a caveat - remove it and the mechanism has no support.
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concept_edges[4]
weightpriming —causes→ beliefs — 0.1
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concept_edges[4]
notepriming —causes→ preferences — Weighted below the contribution effect because it is an INFERENCE FROM THE BELIEF NULL rather than a measurement - preferences were never observed directly, which is also why this edge carries no effect direction.
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concept_edges[5]
weightpriming —causes→ preferences — 0.8
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concept_edges[5]
notepriming —operationalised-as→ word-search puzzle — The whole construct is fifteen words hidden in a 16x16 letter matrix, self-completed, with the same five neutral words present in both conditions.
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concept_edges[6]
weightpriming —operationalised-as→ word-search puzzle — 0.95
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concept_edges[6]
outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation)control — heldcontrols[0]
outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation)control — heldcontrols[1]
outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation)control — heldcontrols[2]
replicationuntested
limitationOnly a one-shot game was run, so nothing can be said about whether the priming effect persists over repeated decisions.
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limitations[0]
limitationThe result does not generalise beyond the public goods game to other economically relevant behaviours.
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limitations[1]
limitationA single priming method (word-and-association semantic priming) was used, so the effect of other priming modes, including negative priming, is unknown.
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limitations[2]
limitationBeliefs were elicited after contribution decisions, making the belief measure endogenous to the behaviour it was meant to explain.
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limitations[3]
limitationThe priming manipulation is open to an experimenter demand interpretation, which the authors could only address post hoc with a questionnaire control.
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limitations[4]
Content tags
content-observations: finding · quantity · variable · definition · key-term — grounded in the full text
findingcooperative priming raises contributions in a one-shot public goods game
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content_tags.findings[0]
findingprimed group contributed 7.17 tokens on average vs 4.99 for the neutrally-primed group
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content_tags.findings[1]
findingstandard economic theory predicts priming should have no impact on choices
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content_tags.findings[2]
quantityan 11-percentage-point increase in giving (approx. 25% to 36% of endowment)
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content_tags.quantities[0]
quantity150 participants, 75 per treatment
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content_tags.quantities[1]
variablepriming manipulation (manipulated independent variable)
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content_tags.variables[0]
definitionpriming
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content_tags.definitions[0]
key-termspriming, cooperation, public goods game, free riding, pro-social behaviour, voluntary contributions, word-search puzzle
Concepts
terms this paper carries, each with the sentence it was cut from — the layer that joins one paper to another. Terms with no quote yet are on CONCEPTS.html.
conceptframing — not defined in this paper's own words; one of the two neighbours priming is defined against: a re-description of a LOGICALLY EQUIVALENT decision problem, which is exactly what priming does not do
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concepts[3]
conceptanchoring — not defined in this paper's own words; the other neighbour: fixing a decision-maker's attention on one trait or piece of information, again leaving the problem itself untouched but by a different route
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concepts[4]
conceptcooperative priming — not defined in this paper's own words; the treatment: a word-search puzzle whose hidden words are cooperation-related rather than neutral, and the paper's name for the manipulation as a whole
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concepts[5]
conceptcontributions — not defined in this paper's own words; the dependent variable, in tokens given to the public account out of an endowment of 20 - a measure with real money behind it, which is what the paper is claiming over psychology
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concepts[6]
conceptfree riding — not defined in this paper's own words; the behaviour the incentives reward and the prime is meant to counteract; the paper reports the effect in both directions at once - less free riding, more giving
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concepts[7]
conceptbeliefs — not defined in this paper's own words; what subjects expected OTHERS to contribute, elicited after their own decision. The channel the paper tests and does not find
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concepts[8]
conceptpreferences — not defined in this paper's own words; the channel the paper is left with once beliefs are ruled out: the prime is argued to change what subjects WANT to give rather than what they expect others to give
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concepts[9]
conceptword-search puzzle — not defined in this paper's own words; the delivery device for the prime, and the reason the manipulation is deniable to the subject: the words are found, not read as a message
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concepts[10]
Statistics — cross-field join keys
field-invariant statistical terms, used in their statistical sense (gated on a number / symbol / test). A p-value or a standard deviation means the SAME thing in physics, biology, psychology and sociology — so these are the strongest cross-field join keys. Grounded verbatim.
null-hypothesis H0 as written: reject the null hypothesis
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content_tags.statistics[0]
p-value p as written: p = 0.044
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content_tags.statistics[1]
Mann-Whitney as written: Mann-Whitney test
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content_tags.statistics[2]

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