The great discontent: workers’ reaction to job dissatisfaction information

Last registered on January 30, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The great discontent: workers’ reaction to job dissatisfaction information
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015134
Initial registration date
January 27, 2025

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
January 30, 2025, 10:45 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
France
Region
Country
Italy
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Beatrice Braut
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Vincenzo Mollisi
PI Affiliation
University of Turin
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Mariele Macaluso
PI Affiliation
University of Turin
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-02-03
End date
2025-02-14
Keywords
Behavior, Firms & Productivity, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The study aims to test whether and how exposure to different types of information related to work and activism, as identified by Varavallo et al. (2023) in their moral economy framework, influences the likelihood of reporting a willingness to engage in quiet quitting, as measured using the Quiet Quitting Scale (QQS) developed by Galanis et al. (2023). Furthermore, the survey investigates how these exposures affect evaluations of one’s workplace and preferences for remote work or compensation for not engaging in it.

The survey will involve Italian and French workers aged between 20 and 45. Participants will be exposed to informational treatments delivered through wordclouds, a visual approach designed to highlight key themes. In the baseline condition, participants will see terms related to neutral workplace characteristics. In the treatments, participants will be exposed to wordclouds emphasizing workplace conditions (work), social justice themes (activism), or a combination of both (work & activism).

Our hypothesis is that exposure to non-neutral factors—specifically those linked to work or activism—will increase the likelihood of participants doing quitequitting. Furthermore, we anticipate that the combined exposure to work & activism will amplify these effects, demonstrating how moral and social dimensions shape workplace attitudes and behaviors, including a higher probability of quiet quitting.
External Link(s)
Galanis et al. (2023)
Varavallo et al. (2023)

Registration Citation

Citation
Braut, Beatrice, Mariele Macaluso and Vincenzo Mollisi. 2025. "The great discontent: workers’ reaction to job dissatisfaction information." AEA RCT Registry. January 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15134-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
The intervention in this survey experiment involves informational priming using wordclouds as visual stimuli to subtly influence participants' perceptions and attitudes. The wordclouds are designed to highlight specific themes related to work, activism, and their combination, drawing from the moral economy framework (Varavallo et al., 2023) and psychological factors underlying workplace disengagement, as captured by the Quiet Quitting Scale (QQS) (Galanis et al., 2023).

Participants are divided into four groups:

Control Group (Neutral Wordcloud): Exposed to wordclouds containing neutral workplace terms unrelated to moral or social considerations (e.g., amenities, general workplace characteristics).
Treatment 1 (Work-Focused Wordcloud): Exposed to wordclouds emphasizing terms associated with employment conditions, such as salary, work-life balance, and job dynamics.
Treatment 2 (Activism-Focused Wordcloud): Exposed to wordclouds highlighting themes of social justice, inequality, and workers' rights.
Treatment 3 (Work & Activism Combined Wordcloud): Exposed to wordclouds that integrate both employment conditions and social justice themes, emphasizing their interconnectedness.
The wordclouds serve as informational prompts, delivering implicit messages about workplace values and societal issues without overtly directing participants' responses. This method is intended to explore how exposure to moral and social themes affects participants':

Willingness to engage in quiet quitting.

Evaluation of their own workplace.
Preferences for remote work or compensation for not engaging in it.
By keeping the intervention visually engaging and conceptually subtle, the design ensures that participants are influenced primarily by the content and framing of the information, rather than explicit instructions or overt framing.
Intervention Start Date
2025-02-03
Intervention End Date
2025-02-14

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Primary Outcomes: 1. Probability of reporting quiet quitting, as measured by the Quiet Quitting Scale (QQS).
Secondary Outcomes: 2. Probability of reporting workplace satisfaction or dissatisfaction. 3. Probability of expressing willingness to work from home or preference for compensation in lieu of remote work.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Subjects will be assigned to one of four conditions, each differing in the type of information presented through wordclouds about workplace characteristics, with the words and themes derived from the framework proposed by Varavallo et al. (2023).

The workplace characteristics highlighted in the wordclouds fall into the following categories:

- Workplace Amenities (baseline): Neutral information about general workplace features.
- Work and Employment: Wordclouds focused on job-related aspects such as salary, work-life balance, and employment conditions.
- Social Justice and Activism: Wordclouds highlighting themes of social justice, inequality, and workers’ rights.
- Combination of Work and Activism: Wordclouds presenting a mix of job-related aspects and social justice themes, emphasizing their interconnectedness.


Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization by program
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
1660
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
415 for control, 415 for control 1st treatment, 415 for control 2nd treatment, and 415 for control 3rd treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
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