Saving Face and Group Identity

Tor Eriksson (1) , Lei Mao (2, 3) , Marie Claire Villeval (2)

1 Department of economics
2 GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne
3 Central University of Finance and Economics [Beijing]

Are people willing to sacrifice resources to save one’s and others’ face? In a laboratory experiment, we study whether individuals forego resources to avoid the public exposure of the least performer in their group. We show that a majority of individuals are willing to pay to preserve not only their self- but also other group members’ image, even when group identity is minimal. When group identity is made more salient, individuals help regardless of whether the least performer is an in-group or an out-group. In contrast, people are less likely to sacrifice for individual strangers, showing a major role for group identity and reputation concerns within groups relative to an interpretation in terms of moral norms.

Mots clés: experiment; group identity; Saving face; social image; pro-social behavior

Domaines: Economies et finances

Tor Eriksson, Lei Mao, Marie Claire Villeval. Saving Face and Group Identity. Experimental Economics, 2017, 20 (3), pp. 622-647. ⟨10.1007/s10683-016-9502-3⟩. ⟨halshs-01393311⟩