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Guilt Aversion: Eve versus Adam

Author

Listed:
  • Giovanni Di Bartolomeo
  • Martin Dufwenberg
  • Stefano Papa
  • Laura Razzolini

Abstract

Our study contributes to a large literature in experimental economics that explores gender differences in how people are motivated. We focus on guilt aversion (GA), a surprisingly rather unexplored issue. Our experiment supports the idea that men are more GA than women. Our results also support different rationales to explain observed similar behaviors, like promise keeping. We provide a potential intuition for our findings, which is based on the pregnancy-related biological asymmetry between genders.

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Di Bartolomeo & Martin Dufwenberg & Stefano Papa & Laura Razzolini, 2022. "Guilt Aversion: Eve versus Adam," Working Papers in Public Economics 220, Department of Economics and Law, Sapienza University of Roma.
    • Handle: RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp220
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dhami, Sanjit & Wei, Mengxing & al-Nowaihi, Ali, 2019. "Public goods games and psychological utility: Theory and evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 361-390.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender; guilt aversion; promises; evolutionary psychology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers

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