Pub Date : 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102833
Fernando G. Cafferata , Patricio Dominguez , Carlos Scartascini
Overconfidence leads to risky behavior, including when people are around guns. Can overconfidence also be associated with attitudes about gun ownership and use? We evaluate this possibility by conducting nationally representative surveys in six countries in the Americas, including the United States. Results show that overconfident individuals are more willing to accept the use of guns and more likely to declare their willingness to use guns. These results indicate that overconfidence is a significant behavioral trait correlated with attitudes toward weapons handling, carrying, and use. Efforts to correct the biases of individuals confronted with making decisions about guns should be considered, especially in regulatory contexts.
{"title":"Overconfidence and preferences for gun use: Evidence from six countries in the Americas","authors":"Fernando G. Cafferata , Patricio Dominguez , Carlos Scartascini","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102833","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102833","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Overconfidence leads to risky behavior, including when people are around guns. Can overconfidence also be associated with attitudes about gun ownership and use? We evaluate this possibility by conducting nationally representative surveys in six countries in the Americas, including the United States. Results show that overconfident individuals are more willing to accept the use of guns and more likely to declare their willingness to use guns. These results indicate that overconfidence is a significant behavioral trait correlated with attitudes toward weapons handling, carrying, and use. Efforts to correct the biases of individuals confronted with making decisions about guns should be considered, especially in regulatory contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"111 ","pages":"Article 102833"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145050304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-22DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102845
Fang Fu , Leigh H. Grant , Ali Hortaçsu , Boaz Keysar , Jidong Yang , Karen J. Ye
As foreign language use becomes more commonplace in the globalized market, we ask whether using a foreign language systematically impacts financial decisions. We conducted a lab experiment in Beijing, China, with 357 native Mandarin Chinese speakers who know English as a foreign language. We ran a series of sealed-bid, common value auctions, where winning bidders often pay more than the object is worth and hence suffer from the “winner’s curse.” Here we show that using a foreign language reduces the winner’s curse, as winning bidders were less likely to overbid for the object. When using a native tongue, bidders adopted a naïve strategy, while with a foreign language they got closer to the Nash equilibrium bid. However, as bidders received feedback on others’ bidding behavior across consecutive auctions, bidding across the language treatments converged to the naïve bid. These results suggest that the language through which individuals make bidding decisions can have influential effects on financial decision making in market settings.
{"title":"The impact of language on decision-making: Auction winners are less cursed in a foreign language","authors":"Fang Fu , Leigh H. Grant , Ali Hortaçsu , Boaz Keysar , Jidong Yang , Karen J. Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102845","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102845","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As foreign language use becomes more commonplace in the globalized market, we ask whether using a foreign language systematically impacts financial decisions. We conducted a lab experiment in Beijing, China, with 357 native Mandarin Chinese speakers who know English as a foreign language. We ran a series of sealed-bid, common value auctions, where winning bidders often pay more than the object is worth and hence suffer from the “winner’s curse.” Here we show that using a foreign language reduces the winner’s curse, as winning bidders were less likely to overbid for the object. When using a native tongue, bidders adopted a naïve strategy, while with a foreign language they got closer to the Nash equilibrium bid. However, as bidders received feedback on others’ bidding behavior across consecutive auctions, bidding across the language treatments converged to the naïve bid. These results suggest that the language through which individuals make bidding decisions can have influential effects on financial decision making in market settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 102845"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144988763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-09DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102834
Maria Porter , Ahmed Salim Nuhu , Eduardo Nakasone , Mywish K. Maredia
We study whether personal relationships amongst firms can foster trust as a mechanism to overcome challenging business environments. In partnership with a community of small- and medium-scale enterprises in Kenya, we implemented trust games in a framed field experiment. Our main finding is that outside enforcement of exchanges most effectively increases amounts sent to recipients. A secondary finding is that active members of the business association may be more trusting of fellow members when identities are to be revealed compared to when decisions remain anonymous. Our findings suggest that while association-based networking can perhaps partially offset an adverse business environment, in trust-related decision-making, such informal mechanisms do not fully compensate for lack of outside enforcement that can result from weak institutions.
{"title":"Trust, risk, and institutions: experimental evidence from a community of firms in Kenya","authors":"Maria Porter , Ahmed Salim Nuhu , Eduardo Nakasone , Mywish K. Maredia","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102834","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102834","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We study whether personal relationships amongst firms can foster trust as a mechanism to overcome challenging business environments. In partnership with a community of small- and medium-scale enterprises in Kenya, we implemented trust games in a framed field experiment. Our main finding is that outside enforcement of exchanges most effectively increases amounts sent to recipients. A secondary finding is that active members of the business association may be more trusting of fellow members when identities are to be revealed compared to when decisions remain anonymous. Our findings suggest that while association-based networking can perhaps partially offset an adverse business environment, in trust-related decision-making, such informal mechanisms do not fully compensate for lack of outside enforcement that can result from weak institutions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"110 ","pages":"Article 102834"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144809604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102827
Daniel L. Chen
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Shaping societal norms: Experimental evidence on the normative impact of free speech law” [J. Econ. Psychol. 107 (2025) 102799]","authors":"Daniel L. Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102827","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102827","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"109 ","pages":"Article 102827"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-28DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102831
Karin Hansson , Alexander Popov
Using survey data from 22,964 individuals across 298 regions in 27 countries in Europe and Central Asia, we show that within a country, individuals who experienced lower temperatures when growing up exhibit lower trust in people. Such individuals also have reduced level of trust for domestic political and non-political institutions like the president, parliament, national and local governments, political parties, courts, banks, and the church. Our evidence is less consistent with economic theories that suggest that harsh climatic conditions promote trust via the need to cooperate with strangers. Instead, it aligns more closely with neuroscientific and social psychology theories which posit that physical warmth promotes interpersonal trust and a sense of belonging.
{"title":"Temperatures and trust: Survey evidence on the role of climate in shaping trust in people and institutions","authors":"Karin Hansson , Alexander Popov","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102831","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102831","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Using survey data from 22,964 individuals across 298 regions in 27 countries in Europe and Central Asia, we show that within a country, individuals who experienced lower temperatures when growing up exhibit lower trust in people. Such individuals also have reduced level of trust for domestic political and non-political institutions like the president, parliament, national and local governments, political parties, courts, banks, and the church. Our evidence is less consistent with economic theories that suggest that harsh climatic conditions promote trust via the need to cooperate with strangers. Instead, it aligns more closely with neuroscientific and social psychology theories which posit that physical warmth promotes interpersonal trust and a sense of belonging.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"109 ","pages":"Article 102831"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144723509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-17DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102832
Sadaf Mokarram-Dorri , Siegfried Dewitte
Understanding the determinants of healthy and unhealthy food choices is paramount to improving public health. This paper zooms in on the role of evaluation mode (i.e., separate versus joint evaluation) in consumers’ food choices. A series of four studies in the paper and four studies in the online appendix (N = 2024) investigate the effect of evaluation mode on the choice share of healthy and unhealthy foods. In line with earlier work in various domains, the results demonstrate that joint evaluation of healthy and unhealthy food options improves consumers’ decision-making by decreasing (increasing) the choice share of unhealthy (healthy) food, compared to the separate evaluation mode. We show that this relies on the simple fact that the healthiness attribute is difficult to judge in isolation, certainly in comparison with the taste attribute. Indeed, when healthiness becomes easier to evaluate, unhealthy choices become more frequent in the joint evaluation mode as well. The studies are set up to allow us to distinguish the evaluability account from the justification and the goal-highlighting accounts. The theoretical contributions, the methodological implications for the self-control literature, and the managerial implications are discussed.
{"title":"Evaluation mode affects choice of healthy and unhealthy Food: The role of taste and healthiness attribute evaluability","authors":"Sadaf Mokarram-Dorri , Siegfried Dewitte","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102832","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102832","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the determinants of healthy and unhealthy food choices is paramount to improving public health. This paper zooms in on the role of evaluation mode (i.e., separate versus joint evaluation) in consumers’ food choices. A series of four studies in the paper and four studies in the <span><span>online appendix</span></span> (N = 2024) investigate the effect of evaluation mode on the choice share of healthy and unhealthy foods. In line with earlier work in various domains, the results demonstrate that joint evaluation of healthy and unhealthy food options improves consumers’ decision-making by decreasing (increasing) the choice share of unhealthy (healthy) food, compared to the separate evaluation mode. We show that this relies on the simple fact that the healthiness attribute is difficult to judge in isolation, certainly in comparison with the taste attribute. Indeed, when healthiness becomes easier to evaluate, unhealthy choices become more frequent in the joint evaluation mode as well. The studies are set up to allow us to distinguish the evaluability account from the justification and the goal-highlighting accounts. The theoretical contributions, the methodological implications for the self-control literature, and the managerial implications are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"109 ","pages":"Article 102832"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144685456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The term “tax aversion” refers to a dislike of taxes which is stronger than the reaction to other types of payments. Although many scholars have found that the word “tax” elicits negative feelings, contrasting findings have been obtained when tax aversion has been measured as an explicit tendency. The present study suggests a complementary perspective on tax aversion, suggesting that tax aversion might operate as both a latent phenomenon and an explicit propensity. We propose that tax aversion may stem from an inner predisposition rather than an explicit and rational attitude. Such intuition drove the present research, aimed at measuring tax aversion at an implicit level and examining the relationship between implicit, explicit, and behavioral measures of tax aversion. Across three studies, we employed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) alongside traditional measures to explore implicit tax aversion and its behavioral implications. The novelty of this research lies in the use of the IAT to measure implicit tax aversion, examining its relationship with explicit measures, such as the TAX-I (Kirchler & Wahl, 2010), as well as with the behavioral outcomes of tax aversion based on the study conducted by Sussman and Olivola (2011). Consistent with our hypothesis, the findings support the idea that tax aversion can operate as a latent phenomenon. Furthermore, the implicit hostility measured through the IAT appears to be linked to the behavioral outcomes of tax aversion; contrarily, no relationship was found with explicit tax-related attitudes.
“避税”一词指的是对税收的厌恶,这种厌恶比对其他类型支付的反应更强烈。尽管许多学者发现“税收”一词会引发负面情绪,但当厌恶税收作为一种显性倾向来衡量时,得到了截然相反的结果。本研究提出了一种对税收厌恶的补充观点,认为税收厌恶可能既是一种潜在现象,也是一种显性倾向。我们认为,税收厌恶可能源于一种内在倾向,而不是一种明确和理性的态度。这种直觉推动了当前的研究,旨在从内隐层面衡量税收厌恶,并检查税收厌恶的内隐、外显和行为测量之间的关系。在三项研究中,我们采用了内隐联想测试(IAT)和传统的测量方法来探讨隐性税收厌恶及其行为影响。本研究的新颖之处在于使用IAT来衡量隐性税收厌恶,考察其与显性措施的关系,如tax - i (Kirchler &;Wahl, 2010),以及Sussman和Olivola(2011)研究的税收厌恶行为结果。与我们的假设一致,这些发现支持了避税可以作为一种潜在现象运作的观点。此外,通过IAT测量的内隐敌意似乎与税收厌恶的行为结果有关;相反,与明确的税收相关态度没有关系。
{"title":"Tax aversion as an implicit phenomenon","authors":"Giulia Sesini, Cinzia Castiglioni, Paola Iannello, Edoardo Lozza","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102828","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102828","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The term “tax aversion” refers to a dislike of taxes which is stronger than the reaction to other types of payments. Although many scholars have found that the word “tax” elicits negative feelings, contrasting findings have been obtained when tax aversion has been measured as an explicit tendency. The present study suggests a complementary perspective on tax aversion, suggesting that tax aversion might operate as both a latent phenomenon and an explicit propensity. We propose that tax aversion may stem from an inner predisposition rather than an explicit and rational attitude. Such intuition drove the present research, aimed at measuring tax aversion at an implicit level and examining the relationship between implicit, explicit, and behavioral measures of tax aversion. Across three studies, we employed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) alongside traditional measures to explore implicit tax aversion and its behavioral implications. The novelty of this research lies in the use of the IAT to measure implicit tax aversion, examining its relationship with explicit measures, such as the TAX-I (<span><span>Kirchler & Wahl, 2010</span></span>), as well as with the behavioral outcomes of tax aversion based on the study conducted by <span><span>Sussman and Olivola (2011)</span></span>. Consistent with our hypothesis, the findings support the idea that tax aversion can operate as a latent phenomenon. Furthermore, the implicit hostility measured through the IAT appears to be linked to the behavioral outcomes of tax aversion; contrarily, no relationship was found with explicit tax-related attitudes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"109 ","pages":"Article 102828"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144654390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-05-15DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2025.102818
Jaume García-Segarra , Iñigo Hernandez-Arenaz , Pedro Rey-Biel
This paper serves as the opening for the Virtual Special Issue on the economic consequences of gender differences in behavior, published in the Journal of Economic Psychology. The issue aims to consolidate recent research exploring how gender differences in behavior, reflected in risk attitudes, competitiveness, and negotiation tendencies, impact economic outcomes and, in particular, may partially explain labor market differences across genders regarding occupational segregation, wage gaps, and disparities in career advancement. We provide an overview of the topic, highlighting the importance of understanding gender-specific economic behaviors and setting the stage for the detailed studies, and follow by introducing the articles included in the special issue, which use mainly experimental and empirical insights.
{"title":"Economic consequences of gender differences in behavior","authors":"Jaume García-Segarra , Iñigo Hernandez-Arenaz , Pedro Rey-Biel","doi":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102818","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.joep.2025.102818","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper serves as the opening for the Virtual Special Issue on the economic consequences of gender differences in behavior, published in the Journal of Economic Psychology. The issue aims to consolidate recent research exploring how gender differences in behavior, reflected in risk attitudes, competitiveness, and negotiation tendencies, impact economic outcomes and, in particular, may partially explain labor market differences across genders regarding occupational segregation, wage gaps, and disparities in career advancement. We provide an overview of the topic, highlighting the importance of understanding gender-specific economic behaviors and setting the stage for the detailed studies, and follow by introducing the articles included in the special issue, which use mainly experimental and empirical insights.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48318,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Economic Psychology","volume":"109 ","pages":"Article 102818"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144068330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}