Heterogeneous guilt sensitivities and incentive effects

Charles Bellemare (), Alexander Sebald () and Sigrid Suetens
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Charles Bellemare: Université Laval, CRREP

Experimental Economics, 2018, vol. 21, issue 2, No 4, 316-336

Abstract: Abstract Psychological games of guilt aversion assume that preferences depend on (beliefs about) beliefs and on the guilt sensitivity of the decision-maker. We present an experiment designed to measure guilt sensitivities at the individual level for various stake sizes. We use the data to estimate a structural choice model that allows for heterogeneity, and permits that guilt sensitivities depend on stake size. We find substantial heterogeneity of guilt sensitivities in our population, with 60% of decision makers displaying stake-dependent guilt sensitivity. For these decision makers, we find that average guilt sensitivities are significantly different from zero for all stakes considered, while significantly decreasing with the level of stakes.

Keywords: Guilt sensitivity; Psychological game theory; Heterogeneity; Stakes; Dictator game (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 C91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10683-017-9543-2

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