Why do we Discriminate? The Role of Motivated Reasoning

Markus Eyting (meyting@uni-mainz.de)
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Markus Eyting: Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

No 2208, Working Papers from Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

Abstract: Identifying the cause of discrimination is crucial to design effective policies and to understand discrimination dynamics. Building on traditional models, this paper introduces a new explanation for discrimination: discrimination based on motivated reasoning. By systematically acquiring and processing information, individuals form motivated beliefs and consequentially discriminate based on these beliefs. Through a series of experiments, I show the existence of discrimination based on motivated reasoning and demonstrate important differences to statistical discrimination and taste-based discrimination. Finally, I demonstrate how this form of discrimination can be alleviated by limiting individuals’ scope to interpret information.

Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2022-08-31
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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https://download.uni-mainz.de/RePEc/pdf/Discussion_Paper_2208.pdf First version, 2022 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2208

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