Date of Award
Spring 5-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Behavioral and Computational Economics
First Advisor
David Porter
Abstract
This study investigates individuals’ social preferences by examining the impact of group identity on economic decision-making through Dictator Game and Lying Dictator Game experiments conducted in different cultural contexts. The research compares students from Chapman University (USA) and Wuhan University (China), with each participant informed of their counterpart’s university affiliation. This design allows for the comparison of behaviors exhibited in in-group versus out-group settings. The results show that in the Dictator Game, allocation behavior remained consistent regardless of group identity. However, in the Lying Dictator Game, Wuhan participants displayed different levels of honesty depending on their counterpart’s university affiliation. A mixture model analysis further revealed that Wuhan participants had a higher probability of lying compared to their Chapman counterparts. These findings suggest that cultural norms and group identity play a significant role in shaping social preferences such as honesty and generosity.
DOI
10.36837/chapman.000679
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Cer Askin, S. (2025). Revealed and hidden social preferences [Master's thesis, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000679
