Choosing Who You Are: The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Identification Preferences

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Abstract Social identity is an important driver of behavior. But where do differences in social identity come from? We use a novel laboratory experiment based on a revealed preference approach to analyze how individuals choose their identity. Facing a trade-off between monetary payments and belonging to different groups, individuals are willing to forego significant earnings to avoid certain groups and thereby reveal their identification preferences. We then show that these identification preferences are systematically related to behavioral heterogeneity in group-specific social preferences. These results illustrate the importance of identification as a choice and its relevance for explaining individual behavior. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor mayJEL Codes: C91, C92, D03

Cognitive ability and in-group bias: An experimental study

“…Therefore, their results are similar to ours, in that they also observe a high level of in-group bias in high-performing groups. There are also important differences between Hett et al (2016) and our study, however. They focus on measuring the preference for belonging to a group, and not so much on a general relation between in-group bias and performance, and their design does not contain a minimal-group treatment to test whether subjects of different performance differ with respect to a general bias toward an out-group per se.…”

“…To our knowledge, there is no study considering a correlation between cognitive ability and in-group bias in minimal groups. 4 The closest match to our paper that we are aware of is Hett et al (2016). In an experiment similar to Hargreaves Heap and Zizzo (2009), these authors measure the value of groups as subjects' willingness to accept (WTA) being assigned to another group, as compared to staying in their own group.…”

“…In an experiment similar to Hargreaves Heap and Zizzo (2009), these authors measure the value of groups as subjects' willingness to accept (WTA) being assigned to another group, as compared to staying in their own group. While Hargreaves Heap and Zizzo (2009) use minimal groups to identify the pure psychological benefits of belonging to a group, Hett et al (2016) assign subjects to "real" groups that differ by whether they study at the same or a different university, and by whether their performance in a summation task is high or low. Hett et al (2016) find that the stated WTAs are highest in high-performing groups at a subjects' own university.…”

“…While Hargreaves Heap and Zizzo (2009) use minimal groups to identify the pure psychological benefits of belonging to a group, Hett et al (2016) assign subjects to "real" groups that differ by whether they study at the same or a different university, and by whether their performance in a summation task is high or low. Hett et al (2016) find that the stated WTAs are highest in high-performing groups at a subjects' own university. Furthermore, they find that the WTAs are associated with in-group bias in a dictator game.…”

Can a common currency foster a shared social identity across different nations? The case of the euro

“…We again find that the coe cient on the proportion of foreign coins is by no means statistically or economically significant using all four definitions of the dependent variable. 37 For recent evidence from the laboratory suggesting that people might actively choose their identity, please see Hett, Kröll, and Mechtel (2016) and Paetzel and Sausgruber (2016).…”