Deconstructing group bias

Abstract

This lecture presents a series of experiments that deconstructs the bias observed in group settings. Following the methods and traditions of social psychology, economists conducting experiments on income allocation find that participants, on average, are inequity averse towards out-group participants and more so towards in-group participants. New experiments find finds significant, divergent patterns in individual allocations of income in group settings. Using a within-subject design, the results indicate bias need not depend on group identity but rather on individuals’ reactions to group divisions per se. Hence, the tendency to favor people conditional on a group affiliation, which we call “groupiness,” could be an individual trait.