From Self-Interest to Collective Good: How Moral Framing Affects the Justification of Free-Riding Behavior

Abstract

Free riding behaviors, such as tax evasion and exploiting public resources, erode societal trust and cooperation. Using a representative survey conducted in Spain (N = 2,000, Catalonia) with an embedded experiment that randomly exposed participants to different moral framings, this study examines how such framings shape attitudes towards free riding, including tax evasion, claiming undeserved benefits or stealing a ride. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, we test three framings – social order, pro-community altruism and personal autonomy – based on alignment with Authority, Loyalty, and Liberty moral intuitions, respectively. Results indicate that framing cooperation as a matter of social order significantly reduces justification of free riding, while appeals to pro-community altruism have a weaker but still negative effect. Contrary to expectations, the personal autonomy framing does not increase tolerance for free riding, suggesting limited persuasive power in this context. Mediation analysis indicates that collective orientation functions as a central pathway linking moral framing and attitudes toward free riding. Moderation analysis reveals that political ideology and, to a lesser extent, institutional trust, condition the effects on collective orientation, with right-leaning and low-trust individuals demonstrating greater differences under social order framing as compared to control condition. These findings underscore the role of moral narratives in shaping attitudes toward free riding, with implications for public messaging and policy interventions.