Saving Face and Group Identity

Tor Eriksson, Lei Mao and Marie Claire Villeval
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Lei Mao: GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - ENS de Lyon - École normale supérieure de Lyon - Université de Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Central University of Finance and Economics [Beijing]

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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, even when group identity is minimal. When group identity is made more salient, individuals help regardless of whether the least performer is an in-group or an out-group. In contrast, people are less likely to sacrifice for individual strangers, showing a major role for group identity and reputation concerns within groups relative to an interpretation in terms of moral norms.

Keywords: experiment; group identity; Saving face; social image; pro-social behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01393311v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Published in Experimental Economics, 2017, 20 (3), pp. 622-647. ⟨10.1007/s10683-016-9502-3⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: 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)
Working Paper: Saving Face and Group Identity (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01393311

DOI: 10.1007/s10683-016-9502-3

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