Tra i Leoni: Revealing the Preferences Behind a Superstition

Giovanna Invernizzi, Joshua Benjamin Miller, Tommaso Coen, Martin Dufwenberg and Luiz Edgard R. Oliveira
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Joshua Benjamin Miller: The University of Melbourne

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Abstract: We investigate a superstition for which adherence is nearly universal. Using a combination of field interventions that involve unsuspecting participants and a lab-style value elicitation, we measure the strength of peoples' underlying preferences, and to what extent their behavior is driven by social conformity rather than the superstition itself. Our findings indicate that both mechanisms influence behavior. While a substantial number of people are willing to incur a relatively high individual cost in order to adhere to the superstition, for many, adherence is contingent on the the behavior of others. Our findings suggest that it is the conforming nature of the majority that sustains the false beliefs of the minority.

Date: 2019-01-16
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe and nep-evo
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Journal Article: Tra i Leoni: Revealing the preferences behind a superstition (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:osfxxx:c5hxs

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/c5hxs

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