Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/233946 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Economic Psychology [ISSN:] 0167-4870 [Volume:] 67 [Publisher:] Elsevier [Place:] Amsterdam [Year:] 2018 [Pages:] 87-102
Publisher: 
Elsevier, Amsterdam
Abstract: 
Individual competitiveness is a personality trait of high importance. While substantial differences between individuals have been documented, the sources of this heterogeneity are not well understood. To contribute to this issue we conduct an incentivized field study with pre-school children. We assess the children’s willingness to compete and relate the inclinations to ambitions and preferences of their parents. Parents’ ambitions concerning their children’s success in professional life predict their children’s competitiveness. In particular, children of highly ambitious parents tend to enter competition even if their chances to win are low. High ambitions are related to a relatively low socioeconomic background.
Subjects: 
children
competition
field experiment
parents
socialization
intergenerational transmission
JEL: 
C91
C93
D01
Published Version’s DOI: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)

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