ABSTRACT
Incentivizing behavior through subsidies and taxes can change the identity relevance of those actions in multiple ways. Incentives can be employed by policy agents either to reinforce the identity relevance of behavior or to compensate for it. Incentives can backfire, however. One case of this is when the commercialization of public-spirited actions negates the identity opportunity that they otherwise would afford. As such, it diminishes the appeal of the behaviors. Subsidizing behaviors can even convert moral opportunities into moral tests if the incentives lead people to feel that they are being bribed. Fining behaviors can also backfire by increasing rather than decreasing the targeted antisocial acts. In these cases, it appears the commercialization of the action negates the moral identity test that the antisocial behavior represents. The fine becomes perceived as a tax to offset the social harm that the act does.
