Do Prosocial Incentives Motivate Women to Set Higher Goals and Improve Performance?

Last registered on September 08, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Do Prosocial Incentives Motivate Women to Set Higher Goals and Improve Performance?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010027
Initial registration date
September 05, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 08, 2022, 11:33 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Yuxin Su
Affiliation
SKEMA Business School
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Monica Capra
PI Affiliation
Claremont Graduate University
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PI Name
Yu Cao
PI Affiliation
The World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2019-11-23
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Firms & Productivity
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
C83, C90, J24, J30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that women tend to set lower goals for themselves compared to men, resulting in lower performance. In this paper we test whether providing incentives better fitted for motivating women to set high goals could lower the performance gap. We designed an online experiment where participants were asked to set their goals and perform a real effort task. An incentive mechanism that relied on contributing to charity upon participants achieving their goals resulted in women setting higher goals for themselves than men, reducing gender differences in performance.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cao, Yu, Monica Capra and Yuxin Su. 2022. "Do Prosocial Incentives Motivate Women to Set Higher Goals and Improve Performance?." AEA RCT Registry. September 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10027-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
In this paper, we study gender differences in goal-setting and performance when rewards are prosocial. We test whether providing incentives better fitted for motivating women to set high goals could lower the performance gap.
Intervention Start Date
2022-02-11
Intervention End Date
2022-12-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
prosocial incentives, self-chosen goals, workers' performance, gender difference
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
At the beginning of the experiment, participants were randomly assigned to one of the following three treatment groups, which are summarized below:
1. NG-NON: In the no-goal treatment, participants were not asked to set goals. All earnings were paid to the participant.
2. WG-NON: In the with-goal treatment, before each 10-minute round, participants set goals (i.e., a number of tasks to perform within 10 minutes). All earnings were paid to the participant.
3. WG-PRO: In the with-goal prosocial treatment, before each 10-minute round, participants set goals. The earnings were paid to the participant and the second round bonus was paid to a charity if the goal was met.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
297 (the number of participants)
Sample size: planned number of observations
297
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
NG-NON: 99 participants;
WG-NON: 99 participants;
WG-PRO: 99 participant
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Claremont Graduate University
IRB Approval Date
2019-12-02
IRB Approval Number
3639
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials