Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Placement will be defined as the difference between beliefs about self and beliefs about others. For both the referent-vague and referent-specific condition, respondents will answer 3 items about their own saving behavior and 3 items about others’ saving behavior. We will calculate one overplacement measure for the referent-vague condition and one for the referent-specific condition if Cronbach's alpha for the self-beliefs and for the other-beliefs is larger than 0.61.
The placement variable will be constructed such that a value larger than zero indicates overplacement, and a value smaller than zero indicates underplacement. A value of zero indicates no bias. We are able to determine over/underplacement on the group level, not on the individual level.
Self-beliefs measure:
1. How good are you at saving?
On an 11-point scale ranging from ‘0, not good at all’ to ‘10, very good’
2. How often do you have money left at the end of the month and therefore save?
On an 11-point scale ranging from, '0, almost never' to '10, almost always'
3. How much of your income do you save?
On an 11-point scale ranging from '0, very small part' to '10, very large part'
Other-beliefs measure (referent-vague condition):
1. How good are they at saving?
On an 11-point scale ranging from ‘0, not good at all’ to ‘10, very good’
2. How often do they have money left at the end of the month and therefore save?
On an 11-point scale ranging from, '0, almost never' to '10, almost always'
3. How much of their income do they save?
On an 11-point scale ranging from '0, very small part' to '10, very large part'