Behavioral Willingness and Real Behavior in “Normal” Situations. a Horn-Honking Experiment in Field and Survey

Survey experiments are increasingly used in sociology. Benefits are often seen in a high flexibility as well as in the usability for the investigation of sensitive issues. Compared to conventional direct measurement survey experiments provide a more detailed description of the situation and are thus closer to reality. It is widely believed that the higher precision provides less room for interpretation and evokes therefore less bias by social desirability. The method was even developed originally, to collect more valid responses on sensitive topics (e.g. via fictitious acting other people). However, systematic studies on the validity of the measurement of behavioural willingness with survey experiments are rare and inconsistent. While some authors indicate a high correlation between reported willingness and real behaviour, others have some doubt regarding the validity of behavioural measurement, especially in everyday situations.

The present study compares the results of a survey experiment with the results of a field experiment. To simulate an everyday situation a so called horn-honking experiment has been carried out in a German city. Here, subjects are blocked in their cars randomly at a traffic light by an experimental car. Following former versions of this experiment, status and origin of the frustrator car have been varied by car size and licence plate. While the status effect of previous studies could be replicated in the field experiment, the survey experiment yields an effect of the regional affiliation of the car. These opposite results suggest that the application of survey experiments in “normal” situations may rather lead to the report of a behavioural willingness that is consistent with relevant norms instead of with real behaviour. This supports the idea to use survey experiments primarily for the measurement of norms and values instead of for the measurement of behaviour, especially in their application for sensitive topics.