Time and Punishment: How Individuals Respond to Being Sanctioned in Voluntary Associations

Abstract

Little consensus exists on how group members respond when sanctioned by their peers. One school of thought suggests individuals become more cooperative, or prosocial, toward the group. Another line of research shows that individuals have negative emotional reactions to being punished and become less cooperative. We reconcile these seemingly conflicting viewpoints in the context of voluntary associations, where cooperation is crucial. Building on social psychological theories of dependence, we propose that responses to sanctions shift over time as individuals become increasingly dependent on other members to achieve valued outcomes. We draw on data from Colombian microsavings groups to develop this proposition, using qualitative data to flesh out the proposed mechanism and longitudinal, quantitative records to test our hypothesis. We find that individuals initially respond to sanctions by reducing prosocial contributions, but their responses become increasingly prosocial over time. This study generates a fresh vision of sanctions as temporally and relationally dependent.