An Experimental Study of Kin and Ethnic Favoritism

Abstract

Ethnic and kinship ties have long been viewed as potential catalysts for favoritism, and hence corruption. In experiments conducted in three countries, we recruit siblings, coethnics and strangers and vary the relationship(s) between the players of a game to observe how kin and ethnic ties influence the willingness of two players to benefit one another at the expense of a third party. We see universal sibling favoritism, but ethnic favoritism, and favoritism toward other in‐group members (friends) varies. We argue this may be driven in part by kinship institutions, since favoritism is more common in societies with denser kin networks. ( JEL D9, C9, D73, J12)

Who's leading whom? Mutual influences in moral decision making between leaders and subordinates over time

“…Worryingly, perceived closeness showed strong congruency effects. Psychological closeness is a strong predictor in future dishonest behavior such that close others behaving dishonestly create strong pulls to behave dishonestly oneself (Akbari et al, 2020;Irlenbusch et al, 2020;Moore & Gino, 2013), and psychologically close people, including leaders, face less criticism in face of ethical violations (Tumasjan et al, 2010;Weidman et al, 2020). Our study provides evidence that being a "partner in crime" might over time lead to a self-reinforcing cycle of increasing dishonesty.…”

Cognitive and quantitative approaches to Islamic studies: Integrating psychological, socioeconomic, and digital‐cultural statistics

“…Although studies of global psychological variation rarely focus specifically on Muslims, they necessarily collect extensive data on Muslim populations. Moreover, rising interest in psychological variation has encouraged psychological research on certain Muslim countries, such as Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan (see e.g., Akbari et al, 2020;Atari, Chaudhary & Al-Shawaf, 2020;Atari, Graham & Dehghani, 2020;Chaudhary et al, 2018;Khallad, 2005;Yalçındağ et al, 2019;Yilmaz & Saribay, 2018;Yilmaz et al, 2020). Technical psychological research is also complemented by general statistical surveys on the global Muslim population and its views regarding religion and morality (Esposito & Mogahed, 2007;Pew Research Center, 2011, 2017b.…”

“…They also rely heavily on regression analysis, and seek to answer questions of the following type: "When the percentage of citizens who believe in God increases by one point, what is the quantitative impact on the country's economic growth rate (or homicide rate or patents per capita)?," "When citizens' average time in school increases by a year, what is the quantitative impact on the country's fertility rate (or on citizens' level of happiness; or on the percentage of the population that believes in God; or on the percentage of the population that believes care for kin is an important value)?" (See e.g., Akbari et al, 2020;Alesina & Giuliano, 2014;Barro & McCleary, 2003;Becker, 2019;Berkessel et al, 2021;Bénabou et al, 2018;Carvalho et al, 2019;Darnell & Sherkat, 1997;Easterlin et al, 2010;Iannaccone, 1994;Inglehart, 2018;Iyer, 2015;Lee & Lee, 2016;Lehrer, 2008;McCleary, 2011;McCleary & Barro, 2006;Rindermann, 2018;Shariff & Rhemtulla, 2012;Thomson et al, 2018). Such interdisciplinary research has (arguably) been spearheaded by economists (e.g., behavioral economics, economics of religion), but has also attracted political scientists, psychologists, sociologists, as well as quantitative-minded anthropologists and historians.…”

“…The past 2 decades have also witnessed growing interdisciplinary interest in the compilation of comprehensive socioeconomic statistics on societies across the globe, and throughout history (often in online databases) (see e.g., Akbari et al, 2020;Baumard et al, 2015;Becker et al, 2020;Falk et al, 2018;Goldewijk et al, 2010;Grim et al, 2018;Livi-Bacci, 2017;Maddison, 2006;Muthukrishna et al, 2021;Paldam & Gundlach, 2013;Sanderson & Roberts, 2008;Thomson et al, 2018;Turchin & Hoyer, 2020;Watts et al, 2015;Whitehouse et al, 2019; also see Diamond, 1997;Reich, 2018). Comprehensive statistics enable scholars to describe long-term socioeconomic trends extending back many thousands of years.…”

Validation of the General and Personal Belief in a Just World scales in Iran and Their Relations to Perceived Threat of Kin Favoritism

“…Kin favoritism is a common type of injustice that arises from people's preferences to favor members of their own extended family at the expense of injustice to outsiders. Such favoritism is especially prevalent in societies that have large close-knit family groups and strong family ties, such as Iran (Akbari et al, 2020). Thus, we focus on kin favoritism to investigate individuals' perceived threat of injustice.…”