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Abstract
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Before
Misperceptions regarding the beliefs of peers may serve as a barrier preventing individuals from openly seeking advice regarding personal decisions. These misperceptions determine the equilibrium advice taking we observe in real world networks. We study how these misperceptions may arise and how they may push society towards an inferior equilibrium. Using data from an experiment conducted with low-income individuals in New Delhi, India, we study how belief-shifting interventions can increase interpersonal dialogue.
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After
Misperceptions regarding the beliefs of peers may serve as a barrier preventing individuals from openly seeking advice regarding personal decisions. We study how these misperceptions may arise and how they may push society towards an inferior equilibrium. Using data from an experiment conducted with low-income individuals in New Delhi, India, we study how belief-shifting interventions can increase interpersonal dialogue.
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Trial End Date
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Before
April 30, 2021
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After
May 15, 2021
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Last Published
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Before
March 22, 2021 09:29 AM
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After
April 14, 2021 10:43 AM
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Intervention End Date
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Before
April 15, 2021
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After
April 11, 2021
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Stigma, interpersonal dialogue, workplace behaviour, take-up of resources, self efficacy, stress, spillovers. We will measure stigma by measuring willigness to reveal information to their neighbours and dialogue using self-reported and peer-elicited responses.
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After
Outcomes include self-reported willingness to engage with their community, Stigma, Self efficacy, Measures taken for Improving Own Health, Demand for Relevant Information, Cognitive Load etc. Follow up outcomes will include well being measures, interpersonal dialogue etc. All outcomes are listed in detail in the attached PAP.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
Participants will be randomly divided equally into a control group which receives no information and a treatment group which will receive corrected beliefs about others' willingness to have interpersonal dialogue and stress.
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After
Individuals will be randomly allocated into a control group which receives no information and a treatment group which will receive corrected beliefs about others' willingness to have interpersonal dialogue about mental and financial health.
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Randomization Method
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Before
Individuals will be randomly allocated to control and treatment groups, ensuring balance on their baseline characteristics such as age, gender, neighborhood, household income, baseline beliefs, and dialogue.
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After
Individuals will be randomly allocated to control and treatment groups, ensuring balance on their baseline characteristics such as age, gender, network degrees, household income, baseline beliefs, dialogue frequency, attitudes, and well being.
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Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
We will elicit beliefs around mental health engagement and stress during the baseline and then reveal the corrected beliefs (averaged over the individual's NGO centre i.e. residential neighborhood) to the treated individuals. The exact statement provided to the treated individuals will be the following- (a) "Your guess was x1. However, x2 out of every 10 individuals (or x2% of the individuals) in your community associated with the NGO are willing to share and discuss mental health related concerns with my friends, are willing to discuss ways to overcome any such problems you all face, how these problems might be preventing you from achieving your goals." and (b) "Your guess was y1. However, y2 out of every 10 individuals (or y2% of the individuals) in your community associated with the NGO feel that difficulties were piling up so high that they could not overcome them”. These corrected beliefs will be given to all individuals in the treatment group.
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After
Our intervention corrects misperceptions around willingness to engage in interpersonal dialogue among low-income individuals in urban India. Participants in the treatment group receive (a) precise information about the true average willingness to have an interpersonal dialogue about mental health among individuals living in their community or community like theirs (b) qualitative information about the willingness to have an interpersonal dialogue about financial health among individuals living in their community or community like theirs.
The treatment statements given to all individuals in the treatment group are as follows-
1. Statement 1: ``Just like we surveyed you, we also surveyed other individuals from your community or communities similar to yours who are affiliated with the NGO. We have found from the responses, that out of these, 64\% individuals, or ~6 individuals out of any 10, are willing to discuss mental health related concerns with their peers, how they might be preventing them from achieving their goals, and ways to overcome them.''
2. Statement 2: ``Just like we surveyed you, we also surveyed other individuals from your community or communities similar to yours who are affiliated with the NGO. Through this, we have found that out that \textit{many} individuals, are willing to discuss employment/work related concerns with their peers, how they might be preventing them from achieving their goals, and ways to overcome them."
The information given to the participants is computed using the elicited baseline willingness of each participant.
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