Gender identity and competition: a virtual reality experiment

Last registered on May 16, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Gender identity and competition: a virtual reality experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009446
Initial registration date
May 15, 2022

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
May 16, 2022, 5:21 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
France
Region
Île-de-France

Primary Investigator

Name
Nina Rapoport
Affiliation
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (CES), Paris School of Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-05-16
End date
2023-06-30
Keywords
Gender, Lab
Additional Keywords
Competitiveness, Virtual Reality
JEL code(s)
C91, D03, J16, Y80
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Gender differences in competitiveness have been studied extensively in experimental economics, and are often put forth as an important contributor to the gender-wage gap. Recent work in psychology uses virtual reality (VR) to embody individuals in bodies with different characteristics, including sex, and reports corresponding changes in the perception of the self. Specifically, embodiment in the body of the opposite sex has recently been shown to lead participants to identify more with the opposite sex and to increase self-attribution of traits stereotypically associated with the opposite sex, including competitiveness (Tacikowski et al., 2020). Evidence on whether these self-reported results on attitudes extend to behavior is lacking. The objective of this project is to test the impact of such gender identity manipulations on selection into competitive environments in the lab.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Rapoport, Nina. 2022. "Gender identity and competition: a virtual reality experiment." AEA RCT Registry. May 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9446-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Using a head-mounted display (HMD), participants will be embodied in a virtual body whose sex either matches their own ("same-sex") or does not ("opposite-sex").
Intervention Start Date
2022-05-16
Intervention End Date
2023-02-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Tournament entry (selection into competitive environment)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The main outcome this design will allow to compare across treatments is individual selection into competitive environments - the proportion of men/women choosing the tournament option. If Tacikowski et al. (2020)’s results replicate and materialize in participants’ actual choices, the gender gap in competitiveness will be reduced under Opposite-sex embodiment due to men (women) behaving less (more) competitively than under Same-sex embodiment.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Efficiency - the gains of men/women
Performance
Elicited beliefs on relative performance
Risk preferences
Self-rating of competitiveness and other stereotypically male/female traits
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Performance - the number of correctly solved trials under the difference compensation schemes (piece-rate, forced tournament, compensation method of choice)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The goal of the experiment is to test whether the impact of manipulations targeting gender identity extends beyond the previously documented effect on attitudes (implicit and explicit) to behavior. Specifically, whether opposite-sex embodiment via virtual reality impacts individuals’ choices about whether to enter competitive environments.
Experimental Design Details
*An overview of the different part and tasks is provided below:

As part of the registration process for participation in the experiment, participants complete a self-rating of gender stereotypical traits that include competitiveness (using the Bem Sex Role Inventory, BSRI, Bem (1981)), and serves as a baseline measure.

Participants are invited to the lab and randomly assigned to a treatment - same-sex or opposite-sex embodiment via VR.

After undergoing the VR exposure in accordance with their treatment, participants complete a questionnaire assessing illusory body ownership, serving as a manipulation check, and a self-rating of gender stereotypical traits that include competitiveness (using the Bem Sex Role Inventory, BSRI, Bem (1981)). Then, participants take part in the main experimental task, closely following the design of Niederle and Vesterlund (2007).

In round one, participants solve addition problems for three minutes under a piece-rate compensation scheme (50 cents per correct answer). In round two, they solve addition problems under a tournament compensation scheme (If they outperform 3 randomly selected participants, drawn from the pool of all participants in this experiment who have already performed the taks, they receive 2 euros correct problem, otherwise they receive nothing). In round three, they choose whether to be compensated for their performance according to the piece-rate or tournament scheme. Then, participants go through a belief elicitation task and a risk preferences elicitation. The belief elicitation asks them to predict their rank in the group of 4 they were assigned to for determining the tournament outcomes. Risk preferences are elicited using the investment game (Gneezy and Potters, 1997). Finally, participants answer questions regarding their age, legal sex, and some open questions regarding the nature of the experiment.

OVERVIEW
- Baseline BSRI a few days before coming to the lab

Part I
1. Illusory body ownership questionnaire
2. Post-treatment BSRI

Part II
1. Round 1: Piece rate
2. Round 2: Tournament
3. Round 3: Choice between piece rate and tournament
4. Belief elicitation on relative performance
5. Investment game

Part III
- Questionnaire (demographics, open questions)

References:
Gneezy, Uri, and Jan Potters. 1997. “An Experiment on Risk Taking and Evaluation Periods.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 112 (2): 631–45. doi:10.1162/003355397555217.
Niederle, Muriel, and Lise Vesterlund. "Do women shy away from competition? Do men compete too much?." The Quarterly Journal of Economics 122, no. 3 (2007): 1067-1101.
Randomization Method
Participants draw a piece of paper with a number between 1-4 assigning them to a room with a same sex or opposite sex video
Randomization Unit
Individual randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 (estimated) individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 (estimated) individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 (estimated) individuals in each treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board - Paris School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2022-02-02
IRB Approval Number
2021-029
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

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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