Measuring Anticipation of Discrimination in Cooperation Dilemmas

Last registered on August 10, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Measuring Anticipation of Discrimination in Cooperation Dilemmas
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019339
Initial registration date
August 09, 2026

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
August 10, 2026, 5:04 PM EDT

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

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Primary Investigator

Name
Devesh Rustagi
Affiliation
Uni Warwick
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-08-10
End date
2026-09-30
Keywords
Behavior, Lab, Other
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Does anticipation of discrimination, beliefs individuals have about the behavior of others toward them, affect trust and cooperation? We develop a novel design to isolate the role of anticipation of discrimination in cooperation dilemmas using a trust game. We capture the effect of anticipation as the double difference between the amount transferred by trustors to outgroup vs. ingroup trustees when the trustor's own identity is revealed vs. concealed. We conduct this study in UK and US in the context of affective polarization. In addition, we implement the trustee's decision using the strategy method. This allows us to study whether trustees hold taste for discrimination. We combine our game with survey measures of trust and affective polarization, and also collect data on beliefs. Finally, we also aim to implement an information treatment to test if anticipation disappears.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Rustagi, Devesh. 2026. "Measuring Anticipation of Discrimination in Cooperation Dilemmas." AEA RCT Registry. August 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19339-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
we conduct a trust game with a 2x2 design: identities revealed vs concealed and ingroup vs outgroup. These conditions are randomly assigned. We then give information on the average of conditional responses of trustees to trustors to see if anticipation still survives.
Intervention Start Date
2026-08-10
Intervention End Date
2026-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
behavior in the trust game: amount transferred, amount sent back in the strategy method, survey measures of trust and affective polarization, beliefs.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
we conduct a trust game with a 2x2 design: identities revealed vs concealed and ingroup vs outgroup. These conditions are randomly assigned. We then give information on the average of conditional responses of trustees to trustors to see if anticipation still survives.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
done by computer.
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
NA
Sample size: planned number of observations
1600 participants in the UK, 1600 in USA, 500-1000 in the information treatment.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
NA
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Warwick
IRB Approval Date
2026-05-11
IRB Approval Number
214/25-26
Analysis Plan