Conformity and adaptation in groups

Gautam Bose, Evgenia Dechter and Lorraine Ivancic

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2023, vol. 212, issue C, 1267-1285

Abstract: Empirical and experimental evidence suggests that individual behavior in group interactions is affected by perceived norms of behavior within the group. We design an experiment to test this hypothesis. We find that (a) when agents interact within a group, the initial diverse behaviors converge to the group average and individuals cluster more tightly around this benchmark as they learn the average, (b) actions further from this benchmark in a self-serving direction are less acceptable by others, and (c) when an agent is moved to a group with a different benchmark, s/he conforms quickly to the new benchmark.

Keywords: Group behavior; Norms; Conformity; Ultimatum game (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 C78 C91 C92 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:212:y:2023:i:c:p:1267-1285

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.06.006

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