This research will examins experiences with and interpretations of ?form-adhesive? contracts?the ubiquitous fine-print documents offered by many organizations on a take-it-or-leave-it basis to individuals seeking to receive emergency medical treatment, rent a car, buy most anything online, use a credit card or accept a job, to name a few examples. Empirical, this research addresses the following questions: What is the connection, if any, between experience with form-adhesive agreements and the way in which individuals interpret the practical, legal, social and moral enforceability of contracts, and by implication, the rule of law? What effects, if any, does exposure to such agreements have on the way in which individuals interact with the organizations that require signatures on such forms? The goal is to explain how the experience with such forms and effects of forms vary across socio-economic status groups and identify whether different socio-economic status groups behave differently with respect to these agreements. The project will involve a web-based experiment in which subjects are randomly assigned into conditions that vary the presentation of the ?Terms & Conditions? governing their relationship with the researchers. Using one of four randomly selected types of prompts (practical, legal, social or moral), subjects are provoked to abide one particular term to which they agreed in the ?Terms & Conditions?. The rate of compliance will be observed as will other measures of interpreted enforceability across the control and experimental conditions. Findings will inform policy and developing legal doctrine with respect to the relationship of these ubiquitous contracts and popular commitments to the rule of law. Broadly, the project will offer insight into the ways in which support for the rule of law may be undermined or enhanced.
