Abstract
The present study investigates the external validity of emotional value measured in economic laboratory experiments by using a physiological indicator of stress, heart rate variability (HRV). While there is ample evidence supporting the external validity of economic experiments, there is little evidence comparing the magnitude of internal levels of emotional stress during decision making with external stress. The current study addresses this gap by comparing the magnitudes of decision stress experienced in the laboratory with the stress from outside the laboratory. To quantify a large change in HRV, measures observed in the laboratory during decision-making are compared to the difference between HRV during a university exam and other mental activity for the same individuals in and outside of the laboratory. The results outside the laboratory inform about the relevance of laboratory findings in terms of their relative magnitude. Results show that psychologically induced HRV changes observed in the laboratory, particularly in connection with social preferences, correspond to large effects outside. This underscores the external validity of laboratory findings and shows the magnitude of emotional value connected to pro-social economic decisions in the laboratory.
Highlights
Economists increasingly rely on insights from economic laboratory experiments, using them in theoretical research and to inform policy-makers
Loewenstein[1] pointed out the problem of external validity in experimental economics, which has been addressed by experimental economists in several ways
What is a significant change in HRV outside of the laboratory and what magnitude does it have? This question was investigated assuming that the exam was more stressful within individual compared to other, primarily mental activities
Summary
Economists increasingly rely on insights from economic laboratory experiments, using them in theoretical research and to inform policy-makers. While experiments are an important research tool, economists, as experimental researchers in all branches of science, are mainly interested in what happens outside the laboratory For this reason the external validity of laboratory results is of central importance to assess the usefulness of experiments for theory and policy-making. The current study provides a measurement of magnitude by using physiological data that serves as an emotional shadow value for the psychological decision making process. This shadow value provides an externally valid and quantifiable reference measure for emotional stress during decisions, a latent psychological process By providing such quantification the paper contributes to the literature on the external validity of results from (economic) laboratory experiments using objective physiological data. Bet on performance of another player in a second math task (with information about average first round performance)
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