0000000000010379
AUTHOR
Markus Kröll
The Structure and Behavioural Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences
A large body of evidence shows that social identity affects behaviour. However, our understanding of the substantial variation of these behavioural effects is still limited. We use a novel laboratory experiment to measure differences in preferences for social identities as a potential source of behavioural 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 behaviour towards these groups. Our results illustrate the importance of considering in…
Choosing Who You Are: The Structure and Behavioral Effects of Revealed Identification Preferences
Differences in individuals’ social identity have recently been shown to explain differences in behavior. But where do differences in social identity come from? Theory claims that identification allows people to affect their social identity by choosing who they are. Accordingly, this paper treats social identity as a choice and analyzes its behavioral effects. We find identification to be systematically related to behavioral heterogeneity in group-specific social preferences. In a first step, we measure identification preferences using a revealed preference approach in a laboratory experiment. Confirming social identity theory, participants reveal a stronger identification preference for gro…