Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10831
Authors: Emeric Henry; Jan Sonntag
Abstract: It is now well documented that individuals, on average, change their behavior when their actions are observed by others. Yet, there is no systematic way of measuring this dimension of preferences at the individual level. In this paper, we propose a novel experimental game to measure the individual sensitivity to image concerns. We test it experimentally and provide several justifications for the validity of our measure. We find a large heterogeneity in the population: one third of the sample appears totally insensitive to perceptions by others, while one third appears strongly imaged concerned. Members of ethnic minorities seem to be more imaged concerned, in particular when observed by a member of other groups. We also show that more image concerned individuals tend to be less cooperative. Finally, we provide preliminary evidence suggesting that individuals do not only care about the absolute image they convey, but also about how far this image is from reality.
Keywords: image concern; social norm
JEL Codes: D03; D64
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| image concern (Y90) | behavior change (D91) |
| observed actions (C90) | behavior change (D91) |
| image concern (Y90) | cooperation in social dilemmas (C72) |
| ethnic minority membership (J15) | image concern (Y90) |
| image concern (Y90) | alignment with social norms (Z13) |