CAN BEING COMPETITIVE BUT UNSUCCESSFUL HARM YOU, EVEN MORE SO IF YOU ARE A WOMAN?

Simone Haeckl, Jakob Möller, Anita Zednik

Publikation: Working/Discussion PaperWU Working Paper

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Abstract

We investigate the fairness views of impartial spectators towards workers who act or communicate competitively but are unsuccessful in a winner-take-all real-effort task. In an online experiment with over 5,800 participants, spectators show significantly less concern toward unsuccessful workers who voluntarily entered a competition for pay, behaved selfishly, or communicated in a dominant tone. There are two main drivers behind the spectators’ changes in financial redistributions towards low earners: firstly, spectators hold workers more accountable when they behave competitively, and secondly, spectators dislike if a worker communicates in a dominant style. We further find that unsuccessful male workers are treated harsher than female workers when workers’ displayed competitiveness is low. However, this gender gap is diminished when workers acted competitively, and both genders are shown equally low concern.
OriginalspracheEnglisch
HerausgeberWU Vienna University of Economics and Business
DOIs
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 20 Okt. 2023

Publikationsreihe

ReiheDepartment of Strategy and Innovation Working Paper Series
Nummer02/2023

Österreichische Systematik der Wissenschaftszweige (ÖFOS)

  • 502045 Verhaltensökonomie

WU Working Paper Reihe

  • Department of Strategy and Innovation Working Paper Series

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