Caroline studies the role of culture in shaping prosocial behavior and cooperation. Her research combines applied work on promoting socially beneficial behaviors, such as blood donation and charitable giving, with studies of how social norms are enforced, how cultural traits are transmitted, and what motivates people to help others and act fairly. Drawing on theories from psychology, behavioral economics, and cultural evolution, she uses cross-cultural experiments, observational studies, and field experiments to understand the drivers of human prosociality, with the broader goal of identifying when and how behavioral interventions work across cultural contexts.

Gross, J., Graf, C., & Rossetti, C. S. (2026). The hidden costs of human cooperation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 30(4), 322-334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2025.09.016

Graf, C., Pondorfer, A., & Schulz, J. (2025). Culture and gender differences in honesty. The Economic Journal, ueaf137. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueaf137

Graf, C., Suanet, B., Wiepking, P., & Merz, E. M. (2023). Social norms offer explanation for inconsistent effects of incentives on prosocial behavior. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 211, 429-441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.05.003