Saving Face and Group Identity

Tor Eriksson, Lei Mao () and Marie Claire Villeval
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Lei Mao: Central University of Finance and Economics

No 9110, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Are people willing to sacrifice resources to save one's and others' face? In a laboratory experiment, we study whether individuals forego resources to avoid the public exposure of the least performer in their group. We show that a majority of individuals are willing to pay to preserve not only their self- but also other group members' image. This behavior is frequent even in the absence of group identity. When group identity is more salient, individuals help regardless of whether the least performer is an in-group or an out-group. This suggests that saving others' face is a strong social norm.

Keywords: group identity; saving face; social image; pro-social behavior; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C92 D03 M52 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2015-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-cdm, nep-exp and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - revised version published in: Experimental Economics, 2017, 20 (3), 622-647

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Related works:
Journal Article: Saving face and group identity (2017)
Working Paper: Saving Face and Group Identity (2017)
Working Paper: Saving Face and Group Identity (2015)
Working Paper: Saving Face and Group Identity (2015)
Working Paper: Saving Face and Group Identity (2015)
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