Frustration and Anger in Coordination Settings

Last registered on November 17, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Frustration and Anger in Coordination Settings
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017210
Initial registration date
November 09, 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 17, 2025, 6:54 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Christina McGranaghan
Affiliation
University of Delaware
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sweekriti Subba
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Emma Abrams
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-11-10
End date
2027-11-30
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We propose to test for the effects of anger following failed coordination in a social risk setting.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Abrams, Emma, Christina McGranaghan and Sweekriti Subba. 2025. "Frustration and Anger in Coordination Settings." AEA RCT Registry. November 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17210-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-11-10
Intervention End Date
2025-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Share of endowment kept to oneself versus share of endowment allocated to other players in stage 2
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Chosen amount divided by initial endowment

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experimental design has two main parts. In stage 1 of the study, participants make decisions with respect to an uncertain asset. In stage 2, they play a dictator game.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Group assignments, uncertain asset payoffs, and the selected decision-that-counts in stage 1 are randomized by a computer. The classification into frustrated and non-frustrated participants depends on group outcomes in stage 1.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
360 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
360 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The classification into frustrated and non-frustrated participants depends on group outcomes in stage 1. We expect around 1/3 of participants to be classified as frustrated.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
For hypothesis 1, the effect size of interest is a 0.1 increase in the share of money kept to oneself among participants classified as frustrated. This analysis will be limited to participants receiving one of the two larger endowments in stage 2. For hypothesis 2, we assume that around 1/4 of the sample will be categorized as frustrated due to a single other participant. This analysis will be conducted across all three possible endowment levels in stage 2. The effect size of interest in this case is a 0.05 difference in the share received by cooperators versus players who caused the coordination failure.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Delaware Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2025-10-24
IRB Approval Number
2307556-2
Analysis Plan

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