Law and Literature: Theory and Evidence on Empathy and Guile

Chen Daniel L. ()
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Chen Daniel L.: Toulouse School of Economics, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, University of Toulouse Capitole, Toulouse, France

Review of Law & Economics, 2019, vol. 15, issue 1, 33

Abstract: Legal theorists have suggested that literature stimulates empathy and affects moral judgment and decision-making. I present a model to formalize the potential effects of empathy on third parties. Empathy is modeled as having two components–sympathy (the decision-maker’s reference point about what the third party deserves) and emotional theory of mind (anticipating the emotions of another in reaction to certain actions). I study the causal effect with a data entry experiment. Workers enter text whose content is randomized to relate to empathy, guile, or a control. Workers then take the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and participate in a simple economic game. On average, workers exposed to empathy become less deceptive towards third parties. The result is stronger when workers are nearly indifferent. These results are robust to a variety of controls and model specifications.

Keywords: normative commitments; other-regarding preferences; empathy; deception; guile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D03 D64 K00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1515/rle-2015-0048

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