Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161229 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10606
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Numerous signaling models in economics assume image concerns. These take two forms, as relating either to social image or self-image. While empirical work has identified the behavioral importance of the former, little is known about the role of self-image concerns. We exogenously vary self-image concerns in manipulating self-directed attention and study the impact on moral behavior. The choice context in the experiment is whether subjects inflict a painful electric shock on another subject to receive a monetary payment. Three between-subjects conditions are studied. In the main treatment, subjects see their own face on the decision screen in a real-time video feed. In the two control conditions, subjects see either no video at all or a neutral video. We find that the exogenous increase in self-image concerns significantly reduces the fraction of subjects inflicting pain.
Subjects: 
self-image
moral behavior
JEL: 
D64
C91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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