Peer effects on authoritarianism – Evidence from the Norwegian Armed Forces

Last registered on November 17, 2022

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Peer effects on authoritarianism – Evidence from the Norwegian Armed Forces

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0010394

Initial registration date

November 11, 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

November 17, 2022, 3:27 PM EST

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

Locations

Country

Norway

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Andreas Kotsadam

Affiliation

University of Oslo

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Sirianne Dahlum

PI Affiliation

PI Name

Torbjørn Hansson

PI Affiliation

PI Name

Åshild Johnsen

PI Affiliation

PI Name

Alexander Wuttke

PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2022-09-10

End date

2024-02-01

Keywords

Behavior, Electoral, Lab

Additional Keywords

Authoritarianism; Peer effects; Attitudes

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

We study how peer effects shape authoritarianism using a field experiment in the Norwegian Armed Forces. In particular, we ask: Does random assignment to people with different levels of authoritarian orientations make soldiers more or less authoritarian? In addition, we hope to answer the following questions: How does authoritarianism change during military service? Does information about peers' authoritarian preference change individual beliefs and orientations?

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Dahlum, Sirianne et al. 2022. "Peer effects on authoritarianism – Evidence from the Norwegian Armed Forces." AEA RCT Registry. November 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10394-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We have two main interventions: We randomly assign recruits to rooms during bootcamp to test peer effects on authoritarian orientation. We further conduct an information experiment to test how information about the attitudes of other recruits' affect attitudes and beliefs.

Intervention Start Date

2022-09-10

Intervention End Date

2022-11-13

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Our primary outcome is Authoritarian orientation, which we measure with the following survey question: "For each of the following statements below, please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with each. Do you strongly agree (1), agree (2), neither agree or disagree (3) disagree (4), strongly disagree (5)?" “It is important to have a strong leader who gets things done, even if this sometimes means bypassing parliament and elections.” We reverse code the variable.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

We measure beliefs and other attitudes that are linked to authoritarianism. See the plan for details.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The peer effect intervention consists of us randomly asigning individuals to rooms where they will live for eight weeks with other recruits.

The information intervention consists of randomly providing information about the baseline attitudes.

See the plan for details.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is done in office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

Individual level randomization for the information experiment but for the peer effects the treatment is clustered at the room level.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

80 rooms

Sample size: planned number of observations

600 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

40 control rooms and 40 treatment rooms

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Our minimum detectable effect for the information treatment with 80 percent power and a significance level of 5 percent, accounting for multiple hypothesis testing and covariate controls is 0.2 standard deviations of the main oucome. For the peer effect analysis, accounting for clustering, the minimum detectable effect is 0.25 standard deviations of the main outcome.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB