A survey of belief-based guilt aversion in trust and dictator games

The evidence for belief-based guilt aversion is reviewed with a particular focus on trust games and dictator games. By way of comparison an alternative model to belief-based guilt aversion is proposed which is based on an internalized norm. We show that the experimental evidence to date is consistent with belief-based guilt aversion but that it is difficult to distinguish one model from another. The review compares the many different approaches that have been used to elicit beliefs. It also looks at the role of exposure and communication