The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences

Florian Hett, Markus Kroell and Mario Mechtel
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Markus Kroell: Goethe University Frankfurt

No 201903, IAAEU Discussion Papers from Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU)

Abstract: A large body of evidence shows that social identity affects behavior. However, our understanding of the substantial variation of these behavioral effects is still limited. We use a novel laboratory experiment to measure differences in preferences for social identities as a potential source of behavioral heterogeneity. Facing a trade-off between monetary payments and belonging to different groups, individuals are willing to forego significant earnings to avoid belonging to certain groups. We then show that individual differences in these foregone earnings correspond to the differences in discriminatory behavior towards these groups. Our results illustrate the importance of considering individual heterogeneity to fully understand the behavioral effects of social identity.

Keywords: Social Identity; Identification Preferences; Social Preferences; Outgroup Discrimination; Behavioral Heterogeneity; Social Status; Social Distance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 C92 D90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo and nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201903

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