How Social Norms Shape Ambition and Grit: A Vignette Study on Labor Market Entry Inequalities

This study investigates gender inequalities at labor market entry, focusing on the role of social norms and personal values in shaping employment decisions. The research will be conducted on a representative sample of the Italian population aged 19-29, stratified by gender, education level (high school graduates vs. university graduates), geographic region, and metropolitan vs. non-metropolitan area.
The intervention consists of vignette-based survey experiments, where we systematically vary the gender of the main character to examine how gender norms influence labor market preferences. Participants evaluate employment-related scenarios, allowing us to assess whether societal expectations and stereotypes shape their decisions.
In addition to the vignette experiment, the survey collects detailed information on participants’ education, job status, and entry into the labor market. This rich dataset enables us to estimate the early gender gap in employment and wages and investigate to what extent these disparities are explained by social norms and personal values.
Participants are assigned to different experimental conditions, where they receive varied informational feedback on perceived social norms and actual decisions made by others. Specifically, participants in the second wave will be exposed to feedback treatments based on responses collected in the first wave, assessing whether information on peers' choices and role models influences personal values and labor market preferences.
The data collection will be carried out through Computer-Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI), administered by a specialized data collection firm. The study aims to identify potential misperceptions of social norms and evaluate their role in reinforcing or reducing gender disparities in early career choices.

2025-02-09

2025-04-30

1. Perceived Social Norms on Grit and Ambition
We estimate the perceived social norm regarding grit and ambition by eliciting individuals’ first-order beliefs (their own views) and second-order beliefs (what they believe others think) about what is considered socially appropriate in terms of these traits.

2. Norm Misperception and Belief Updating
We measure norm misperception, defined as the gap between individuals’ second-order beliefs (what they think others believe) and the actual first-order beliefs of others (the true distribution of opinions). We analyze whether individuals update their own first-order beliefs after being exposed to information on others’ first-order beliefs and assess whether this effect varies by gender and education level.

3. Relationship Between Perceived Norms, Misperception, and Early Gender Gaps
We examine how perceived norms and misperception influence early gender gaps in employment and career choices. Specifically, we investigate whether individuals’ incorrect beliefs about social norms contribute to disparities in labor market entry outcomes.

These outcome measures will allow us to analyze how social norms, misperception, and belief updating shape early career trajectories and gender disparities.

1. Perceived Social Norms on Grit and Ambition
We estimate perceived social norms regarding grit and ambition by eliciting:

First-order beliefs: Individuals’ personal views on what is socially appropriate.
Second-order beliefs: Individuals’ perceptions of what others in their community or reference group believe.
These beliefs are measured on a 0-100 scale to quantify perceptions of social acceptability.

2. Norm Misperception and Belief Updating
We measure norm misperception, defined as the gap between:

Second-order beliefs (what individuals think others believe).
Actual first-order beliefs of others (the true distribution of opinions).
We assess whether individuals update their own first-order beliefs after exposure to information on others’ first-order beliefs and analyze whether this effect varies by gender and education level.

3. Relationship Between Perceived Norms, Misperception, and Early Gender Gaps
We examine how perceived norms and misperception influence early gender gaps in employment and career choices. Specifically, we investigate whether individuals’ incorrect beliefs about social norms contribute to disparities in labor market entry outcomes.

4. Measurement of the Gender Gap in Labor Market Outcomes
The gender gap is assessed using two complementary sources:

Survey Data: Self-reported responses from participants on: Monthly earnings and Number of weekly hours worked
Administrative Data: Official labor market statistics at the regional level, obtained from public databases (e.g., ISTAT), to validate and complement self-reported gender disparities.

1. Job Market Expectations and Preferences
Expected future earnings and career trajectories.
Preferences for job security, work-life balance, flexibility, and remote work.
Willingness to negotiate salaries, request promotions, or take on leadership roles.
2. Social Norm Feedback and Belief Updating
Magnitude of belief updating in response to social norm feedback (e.g., whether exposure to others’ first-order beliefs leads to stronger belief revisions among certain subgroups).
Whether individuals resist or adopt new social norm information based on pre-existing attitudes.
3. Risk Preferences and Decision-Making
Individual risk tolerance, competitiveness, and confidence in career-related decisions and their interaction with the first- and second-order beliefs.
4. Geographic and Job Mobility
Willingness to relocate for job opportunities, particularly in relation to perceived safety concerns.
Gender differences in choosing job security vs. higher earning potential.
5. Psychological and Behavioral Traits
Personality traits (TIPI), patience, and competitiveness, which may mediate career choices and perception of the norm.
Self-confidence in career decisions and perceived control over professional success.
6. Impact of Experimental Treatments
Changes in beliefs and career expectations between Wave 1 and Wave 2, due to exposure to social norm feedback.
Effects of different framing strategies (descriptive vs. normative) in shaping gender-related perceptions.
Interaction between educational background, gender, and exposure to role models in shifting career expectations.

The experimental design consists of a two-wave survey experiment conducted on a representative sample of the Italian population aged 19-29, stratified by gender, education level (high school vs. university graduates), geographic region, and metropolitan vs. non-metropolitan area. The study employs vignette-based experiments to analyze how social norms and personal values shape early career decisions and contribute to gender disparities in labor market entry.
Wave 1: Baseline Elicitation of Norms and Beliefs
In the first wave, participants are presented with two vignettes in random order, with the gender of the protagonist randomized as the key experimental variation:

Ambition Vignette – The protagonist must decide whether to accept a prestigious long-term job opportunity abroad with potential for career advancement or opt for a less ambitious but stable local position. This scenario captures perceptions of ambition and career commitment and how these are judged based on gender.
Grit Vignette – The protagonist chooses between a high-risk, high-reward career path and a low-risk, stable career path, allowing us to assess perceived perseverance and resilience in career-related decisions and potential gender biases in these perceptions.
By randomizing the gender of the protagonist, we examine whether social norms and expectations shape how ambition and perseverance are perceived for men and women entering the labor market. The order of vignette presentation is also randomized to control for potential order effects in responses.
For each vignette, we elicit both first-order beliefs (individual perceptions of social appropriateness) and (incentivized) second-order beliefs (expectations about the views of others). Participants evaluate the social appropriateness of different career choices, allowing us to measure perceived norms related to ambition and grit.
While the survey also introduces a variation in the framing of the question (should/would), this is not a primary treatment but is accounted for in the analysis.
At the end of the survey, one of the two vignettes is randomly selected, and 10% of respondents in each wave (500 participants) are chosen for additional incentives. For these participants, incentives are provided based on the accuracy of their estimation of social appropriateness in their second-order beliefs, ensuring engagement and truthful reporting.
Wave 2: Norm Updating and Informational Treatment
The second wave follows the same structure as Wave 1, but with a key difference: participants receive feedback on the responses collected in Wave 1 before making their own evaluations. Specifically, participants are shown:
Feedback on Perceived Social Norms – Aggregate responses from Wave 1 regarding what is considered socially appropriate.
Feedback on Empirical Expectations – Information about the actual choices made by respondents in Wave 1, segmented by gender and education level.
This design allows us to study whether and how exposure to social information influences individual beliefs and stated preferences, as well as whether perceived norms about ambition and grit systematically differ from actual peer decisions.
By comparing responses across the two waves, we can assess the role of informational interventions in shifting personal values and social norm perceptions. The study contributes to understanding how gendered expectations shape labor market preferences and whether targeted information can help mitigate early-career gender disparities.
The data collection is conducted through Computer-Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI), ensuring structured administration and high-quality responses.

Not available

The random assignment of participants to the different experimental conditions is handled by the survey administration company by a software that assigns the participants randomly to one of the conditions. Likewise, the company will randomly select a subset of participants eligible for an additional payment which will be based on the accuracy of their second-order belief estimates.

The survey administration company is responsible for the random assignment of participants to the different experimental conditions at the individual level. This approach ensures that the assignment of experimental conditions remains representative of the overall sample in terms of key stratification

No

NA

We plan to collect data from 5,000 individuals, split equally across two waves (2,500 per wave). Each wave will be independently representative based on gender, age groups (19-24 and 25-29 years), education level (high school graduates vs. university graduates), geographic region, and metropolitan vs. non-metropolitan area to ensure consistency in sample composition across both waves.

In each vignette, we implement four treatment variations, defined by the gender of the main character (male/female) and the frame used in the elicitation of first- and second-order beliefs. This results in 625 observations per wave and treatment.
For the purpose of this study, we will focus only on the variation in the gender of the main character, meaning that our analysis will consider 1,250 individuals per treatment while controlling for the other treatment variation in the statistical analysis.

This study aims to detect meaningful differences in the main outcomes using a two-sample t-test. Given a total sample size of 5,000 observations (2,500 per group), a significance level of 0.05, and assuming a common standard deviation of 1.0, the minimum detectable effect (MDE) is 0.056 units at 80% power. This means that the study is powered to detect a difference of at least 0.056 between groups with an 80% probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis, assuming a true effect exists. Unit of Measurement: percentage points reported by respondents in the elicitation of second-order beliegs, for each vignette Standard Deviation: 1.0 (assumed equal across groups)