The Dissemination of Motivated Beliefs

Last registered on November 12, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Dissemination of Motivated Beliefs
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005021
Initial registration date
November 12, 2019

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 12, 2019, 11:28 AM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Frankfurt School

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Goethe University Frankfurt
PI Affiliation
Goethe University Frankfurt
PI Affiliation
Goethe University Frankfurt

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-11-13
End date
2020-01-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
There is a growing literature that studies the determinants and impact of motivated beliefs (Di Tella et al., 2015; Zimmermann, 2019). What is, however, hardly understood at all is how human interaction in general, and communication via social media in particular, affect the formation of such beliefs. We conduct a laboratory experiment to analyze this question.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Grunewald, Andreas et al. 2019. "The Dissemination of Motivated Beliefs." AEA RCT Registry. November 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5021-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2019-11-13
Intervention End Date
2020-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
In our empirical analysis, we will focus on testing how communication affects the formation of motivated beliefs.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our study features a between subject design and four treatments. The baseline treatments are identical to the modified game in Di Tella et al. (2015). In our new treatments, we keep the setting the same except for the fact that we allow for communication between subjects via a chat.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
groups of two individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
approximately 270 groups each of which consists of 2 subjects.
Sample size: planned number of observations
540 subjects
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
140 subjects per treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Goethe University Frankfurt
IRB Approval Date
2019-11-12
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials