"Experimental social psychology today seems dominated by values that suggest the following slogan: “Social psychology ought to be and is a lot of fun.” The fun comes not from the learning, but from the doing. Clever experimentation on exotic topics with a zany manipulation seems to be the guaranteed formula for success which, in turn, appears to be defined as being able to effect a tour de force. One sometimes gets the impression that an ever-growing coterie of social psychologists is playing (largely for one another’s benefit) a game of “can you top this?” Whoever can conduct the most contrived, flamboyant, and mirth-producing experiments receives the highest score on the kudometer. There is, in short, a distinctly exhibitionistic flavor to much current experimentation, while the experimenters themselves often seem to equate notoriety with achievement."
Kenneth Ring, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1967
Kenneth Ring, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1967
What are the social and psychological foundations of trust?
Despite widespread interest in trust and trustworthiness across the disciplines, social scientists are unclear about what constitutes trustworthiness and, hence, trust. At the very least, trust is a belief about another person under conditions of unknown outcomes. But the critical question is a belief about what?
The current NSF funded research program attempts to answer this question with large-N survey experiments of market and non-market scenarios. The overall goal of the project is to pinpoint the elements of trustworthiness sufficient to produce trust in addition to exploring other structural-cognitive sources of trust in the form of social identity and status characteristics.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "What is Trust? A Multidisciplinary Review, Critique, and Synthesis." Sociology Compass 10: 972-986.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "When Social Constraints Increase Trust: Considering Causal Attributions as a Source of Treatment Effect Heterogeneity." Socius 2: 1-11 . Supplemental Materials: Descriptive Statistics, Model-Based Assumptions, Design-Based Assumptions, Robustness Checks, and Vignette Dimensions.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "Probing the Links between Trustworthiness, Trust, and Emotion: Evidence from Four Survey Experiments." Social Psychology Quarterly 79: 284-308. Supplemental Materials: Analytic Strategy and Vignette Dimensions. Additional materials: Descriptive Statistics, Design-Based Assumptions, and Robustness Checks.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "From the General to the Specific: How Social Trust Motivates Relational Trust." Social Science Research 55: 16-30.
Robbins, Blaine. 2017. "Status, Identity, and Ability in the Formation of Trust." Rationality and Society 29: 408-448.
Robbins, Blaine. Forthcoming. "Measuring Generalized Trust: Two New Approaches." Sociological Methods & Research.
The current NSF funded research program attempts to answer this question with large-N survey experiments of market and non-market scenarios. The overall goal of the project is to pinpoint the elements of trustworthiness sufficient to produce trust in addition to exploring other structural-cognitive sources of trust in the form of social identity and status characteristics.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "What is Trust? A Multidisciplinary Review, Critique, and Synthesis." Sociology Compass 10: 972-986.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "When Social Constraints Increase Trust: Considering Causal Attributions as a Source of Treatment Effect Heterogeneity." Socius 2: 1-11 . Supplemental Materials: Descriptive Statistics, Model-Based Assumptions, Design-Based Assumptions, Robustness Checks, and Vignette Dimensions.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "Probing the Links between Trustworthiness, Trust, and Emotion: Evidence from Four Survey Experiments." Social Psychology Quarterly 79: 284-308. Supplemental Materials: Analytic Strategy and Vignette Dimensions. Additional materials: Descriptive Statistics, Design-Based Assumptions, and Robustness Checks.
Robbins, Blaine. 2016. "From the General to the Specific: How Social Trust Motivates Relational Trust." Social Science Research 55: 16-30.
Robbins, Blaine. 2017. "Status, Identity, and Ability in the Formation of Trust." Rationality and Society 29: 408-448.
Robbins, Blaine. Forthcoming. "Measuring Generalized Trust: Two New Approaches." Sociological Methods & Research.
What promotes and undermines collective action?
Many people know that, or have experienced how , mass protest can radically recast a political situation. Ever since Mancur Olson's (1965) famous treatise on collective action, the social sciences have witnessed an explosion of competing theories accounting for why individuals contribute to the provision of a public good.
Yet, much of the prior research assessing the causal mechanisms for these competing theories either lacks internal validity (i.e., historical, survey, or ethnographic methods) or is short on external validity (i.e., experiments). We have developed a cognitive-structural model of collective action and a survey experiment to address these shortcomings. The goal of this NSF funded project is to assess our model and other classic causal mechanisms of collective action by administering vignettes to a Large-N sample of U.S. respondents, which we believe will tease out the structural and cognitive sources of collective action.
Matsueda, Ross L., Blaine G. Robbins, and Steven Pfaff. "Under What Conditions are Students Willing to Protest? Selective Incentives, Production Functions, and Grievances." Invitation to Resubmit.
Yet, much of the prior research assessing the causal mechanisms for these competing theories either lacks internal validity (i.e., historical, survey, or ethnographic methods) or is short on external validity (i.e., experiments). We have developed a cognitive-structural model of collective action and a survey experiment to address these shortcomings. The goal of this NSF funded project is to assess our model and other classic causal mechanisms of collective action by administering vignettes to a Large-N sample of U.S. respondents, which we believe will tease out the structural and cognitive sources of collective action.
Matsueda, Ross L., Blaine G. Robbins, and Steven Pfaff. "Under What Conditions are Students Willing to Protest? Selective Incentives, Production Functions, and Grievances." Invitation to Resubmit.
Why do people pay taxes?
Some states have serious problems balancing their budgets, and one of the many causes is tax evasion. In the contemporary U.S., about 20% of tax revenue is lost to evasion, while the rate of tax evasion in some African States is as high as 50%. All states have an interest in reducing tax evasion and expanding tax compliance, but the requirement to pay taxes is one of the most onerous obligations states impose on their citizens.
This research project develops and tests a model of tax compliance that explains why some citizens fulfill these obligations and others do not. Because it is rarely in the interests of citizens to pay taxes, no state has ever allowed pure voluntary tax compliance – all states have used some type of sanction or appeal to non-rational motivations to curb tax evasion. We use survey experiments to systematically test our arguments and adjudicate between rational and non-rational sources of tax compliance in the contemporary U.S.
Robbins, Blaine and Edgar Kiser. 2018. "Legitimate Authorities and Rational Taxpayers: An Investigation of Voluntary Compliance and Method Effects in a Survey Experiment of Income Tax Evasion." Rationality and Society 30: 247-301.
Robbins, Blaine and Edgar Kiser. "State Coercion, Values, and Compliance: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment of American Income Tax Evasion." Under Review.
This research project develops and tests a model of tax compliance that explains why some citizens fulfill these obligations and others do not. Because it is rarely in the interests of citizens to pay taxes, no state has ever allowed pure voluntary tax compliance – all states have used some type of sanction or appeal to non-rational motivations to curb tax evasion. We use survey experiments to systematically test our arguments and adjudicate between rational and non-rational sources of tax compliance in the contemporary U.S.
Robbins, Blaine and Edgar Kiser. 2018. "Legitimate Authorities and Rational Taxpayers: An Investigation of Voluntary Compliance and Method Effects in a Survey Experiment of Income Tax Evasion." Rationality and Society 30: 247-301.
Robbins, Blaine and Edgar Kiser. "State Coercion, Values, and Compliance: Evidence from a National Survey Experiment of American Income Tax Evasion." Under Review.
Is there a consensus on norms about marriage in the U.S.?
During the last four decades, there have been growing disparities across ethnic groups and between the bottom third of the income and education distribution and the top two thirds with respect to marriage.
The goal of this project is to determine if this retreat from marriage is due to structural or cultural factors. In particular, this study employs experiments in a web-based survey framework to determine whether there are norms regarding the minimum economic conditions required for marriage and whether these norms are confined to lower socioeconomic status populations and specific ethnic groups.
Robbins, Blaine G. and Aimée Dechter. “The Character and Content of Norms about Marriage in the United States: A Nationally Stratified Survey Experiment based on Gender, Race, and Socioeconomic Status." In preparation.
The goal of this project is to determine if this retreat from marriage is due to structural or cultural factors. In particular, this study employs experiments in a web-based survey framework to determine whether there are norms regarding the minimum economic conditions required for marriage and whether these norms are confined to lower socioeconomic status populations and specific ethnic groups.
Robbins, Blaine G. and Aimée Dechter. “The Character and Content of Norms about Marriage in the United States: A Nationally Stratified Survey Experiment based on Gender, Race, and Socioeconomic Status." In preparation.
does foreign aid harm local institutions?
In many developing nations, political institutions that establish the rule of law and maintain social order are often weak or nonexistent. Consequences of such politically insecure environments include economic stagnation, intrastate conflict, and amoral familism. Economic transfers from one country or organization to another country—what we refer to as foreign aid—are common tools used by the international community to combat these outcomes and foster economic, social, and political development.
Yet, evidence for the long-term effects of foreign aid on local governance is mixed. In a laboratory experiment, we investigate whether external subsidies—such as those deriving from foreign assistance policies—promote or undermine the distribution of wealth and the provision of public goods by local leaders to community members. We discover that subsidizing public good provision increases community welfare, while subsidizing wealth distribution does not, and that subsidies do not undermine community welfare or norms about giving in the long-term.
Robbins, Blaine G., Aaron Kamm, Daniel Karell, and Simon Siegenthaler. "Benefits and Risks of Volatile Aid: Insights from a Lab Experiment on External Subsidies, Giving Behavior, and Social Norms." Under Review. Instructions and Instruments.
Yet, evidence for the long-term effects of foreign aid on local governance is mixed. In a laboratory experiment, we investigate whether external subsidies—such as those deriving from foreign assistance policies—promote or undermine the distribution of wealth and the provision of public goods by local leaders to community members. We discover that subsidizing public good provision increases community welfare, while subsidizing wealth distribution does not, and that subsidies do not undermine community welfare or norms about giving in the long-term.
Robbins, Blaine G., Aaron Kamm, Daniel Karell, and Simon Siegenthaler. "Benefits and Risks of Volatile Aid: Insights from a Lab Experiment on External Subsidies, Giving Behavior, and Social Norms." Under Review. Instructions and Instruments.