Norms on in-group favoritisim across social contexts

Last registered on July 01, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Norms on in-group favoritisim across social contexts
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013896
Initial registration date
June 26, 2024

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
July 01, 2024, 12:06 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Spain
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Isabel Rodríguez Marín
Affiliation
Institute of Public Goods and Policies, Spanish National Research Council
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Luis Miller
PI Affiliation
Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP-CSIC)
PI Name
Tom Lane
PI Affiliation
Newcastle University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-06-01
End date
2024-08-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Social norms; survey; in-group favoritism
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In a previous experimental study, we documented that social norms in discrimination games vary by social context. In particular, we show that participants rate in-group favouritism as more or less socially appropriate based on the social identity that is in play. Participants perceived it to be more socially inappropriate to discriminate on the basis of religious affiliation than on the basis of political identity. The study included also a behavioural task that showed an alignment between social norms and behaviours. Participants opted for decisions that favoured their in-groups more frequently in the social contexts where those decisions were regarded as more socially appropriate. This study was carried out in experimental laboratories in the UK and Spain between 2022 and 2023.

Here, we present a vignette experiment to measure social norms on in-group favouritism and group behaviour across a wide range of social identities. Our hypothesis is that participants will rate in-group favouritism differently in different contexts of social identity. We will be able to rank identities based on the level of in-group favouritism considered appropriate in each context. That ranking will be influenced by the agency that individuals grant to other people over features of their identity.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Lane, Tom, Luis Miller and Isabel Rodríguez Marín. 2024. "Norms on in-group favoritisim across social contexts ." AEA RCT Registry. July 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13896-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The survey experiment consists of a vignette that briefly describes a ‘real situation from a previous study’. The situation described is the allocation task from previous behavioural experiments (AEARCTR-0010172/0011275/0013361), in which one subject has to decide how to allocate money between another in-group participant and an out-group participant. Then, subjects answering the survey are asked to rate the possible decisions that the participants in the behavioural tasks could make as: "Very socially appropriate", "Somewhat socially appropriate", "Somewhat socially inappropriate" and "Very socially inappropriate", considering not only their opinion but the social average. This question is not incentivised.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-06-27
Intervention End Date
2024-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Evaluations of social appropriateness from the norm-elicitation task in the vignette.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The dimension of identity that is primed in every treatment is varied exogenously. We will ask participants to rate the decisions of another participant identified with one social group, with the goal of making salient a particular social context. The dimension of identity that is made salient is varied exogenously between partisanship, religious affiliation, football team, gender, educational level and immigration status. This variation constitutes our main treatment. Along these treatment dimensions, characters in the vignette identified with two opposing sides: PP vs. PSOE, catholic vs. non-believer, Real Madrid vs. Barça, male vs. female, lower education vs. upper education, Spanish vs immigrant. Within each treatment, we will also randomly assign the allocator to one of the two identity groups. We will elicit own opinions and identification of individuals to account for their natural identities when examining their responses to the vignette norm-elicitation task.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by a computer when entering the survey
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
3000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
3000 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
3000 participants: 500 per treatment, 250 per experimental condition
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Comitee of the Spanish National Research Council
IRB Approval Date
2024-03-27
IRB Approval Number
N/A
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