|
EconStor >
Max-Planck-Institut für Ökonomik, Jena >
Jena Economic Research Papers, MPI für Ökonomik >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56827
|
| | |
| Title: | | Challenging the intrapersonal empathy gap: An experiment with self-commitment power  |
| Authors: | | Uhl, Matthias |
| Issue Date: | | 2011 |
| Series/Report no.: | | Jena economic research papers 2011,019 |
| Abstract: | | Loewenstein (1996, 2005) identifies an intrapersonal empathy gap. In the respective experiments, subjects make choices with delayed consequences. When entering the state where these consequences would unfold, they get the possibility to revise their initial choice. Revisions are more substantial when these two choices are made in different emotional states. The concept of the empathy gap suggests that the initial choice represents a misprediction of future preferences. However, it might alternatively be based on a well understood disagreement with future preferences. In this sense, people would like to add: But don't ask me again! To disentangle both explanations, we induce two different emotional states in each subject and offer a self-commitment device in the first state. In one condition, subjects move from a cold state of reflection to a hot state of impulsiveness. In the other condition, this order is reversed. We find evidence for the hot-to-cold empathy gap, but not for the cold-to-hot empathy gap when subjects can self-commit to their initial choice. |
| Subjects: | | intrapersonal empathy gap self-commitment intrapersonal conflict naivete |
| JEL: | | D03 C90 |
| Document Type: | | Working Paper |
| Appears in Collections: | | Jena Economic Research Papers, MPI für Ökonomik
|
| |
| | |
Download bibliographical data as:
BibTeX
|
| |
Share on:http://hdl.handle.net/10419/56827
|
Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
|