Regarding Rick's query in the item
below:
"Psychological research has proven again and again that
anonymity increases unethical behavior."
This
sentence appears in a NY Times oped today about anonymous comments on
websites. I'm wondering whether anyone has looked at this literature and applied
it to an argument in favor of campaign finance disclosure laws. Sounds like it
might be a fruitful endeavor.
I have a draft of a paper, entitled "Anonymity and
Democratic Citizenship," that reviews some of the empirical literature regarding
the impact of anonymity on behavior (which I try to link to baseline norms of
good citizenship). Based on what I've seen, I think the statement in the
Times article is wrong, or at least grossly overstated. My reading of the
literature is that the effect of anonymity on behavior is highly contingent and
context-dependent, meaning that sometimes it encourages antisocial behavior but
sometimes it encourages prosocial behavior. As a result, it is very
difficult to make a priori judgments about the impact of anonymity in any
particular setting.
I need to make some corrections before I post the
draft on SSRN, which I hope to do by the end of the month. But if anyone
would like a copy of the preliminary version feel free to contact me off-list
and I'd be happy to provide it.
Jim
____________________________
James A. Gardner
Vice Dean for Academic
Affairs and
Joseph W. Belluck and Laura L. Aswad
Professor of
Civil Justice
State University of New York
University at Buffalo School of
Law
Room 316, O'Brian Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
voice:
716-645-2052
fax: 716-645-5940
e-mail:
jgard@buffalo.eduwww.law.buffalo.eduPapers at
http://ssrn.com/author=40126