The interweaving of aspirations

Last registered on December 07, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The interweaving of aspirations
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017153
Initial registration date
November 03, 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
November 03, 2025, 10:42 AM EST

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

Last updated
December 07, 2025, 8:27 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Huangbin Wu
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-10-31
End date
2026-01-31
Keywords
Behavior, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We argue that (1) performance can be and should be interpreted from different perspectives, and that (2) both social aspitaion performance (SAP) and historical aspiration performance (HAP) should be considered simultaneously. Based on the two arguments, we propose a series of hypotheses according to diverse and mixed evidence from past research. There are four types of performance profiles: the improving high-performer (positive SAP and positive HAP), the improving low-performer (negative SAP and positive HAP), the declining high-performer (positive SAP and negative HAP), and the declining low-performer (negative SAP and negative HAP). Each performance profile conveys unique information, which may lead actors to respond differently. An experiment is conducted with frontline employees (school teachers). Teachers will receive two performance profiles from two students, and they need to choose which student they are more inclined to help for performance improvement.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Wu, Huangbin. 2025. "The interweaving of aspirations." AEA RCT Registry. December 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17153-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-12-08
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
performance improvement preference
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
There are four types of performance profiles: the improving high-performer (positive SAP and positive HAP), the improving low-performer (negative SAP and positive HAP), the declining high-performer (positive SAP and negative HAP), and the declining low-performer (negative SAP and negative HAP).. Thus we will get 6 two-alternatives choice sets. All teachers need to answer 6 choice sets.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
randomization done by a computer
Randomization Unit
teacher
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
The treatment is not clustered.
Sample size: planned number of observations
More than 1000 teacher will be invited to participate. Similar studies have had a response rate around 50-65 %, thus around 500 responses can be expected.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
All teachers need to answer 6 choice sets.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Science and Technology Ethics Committee, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesAcademy of
IRB Approval Date
2025-10-30
IRB Approval Number
UCASSTEC25-048
Analysis Plan