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Original title:
Do pessimistic expectations about discrimination make minorities withdraw their effort? Causal evidence
Authors: Korlyakova, Darya
Document type: Research reports
Year: 2022
Language: eng
Series: CERGE-EI Working Paper Series, volume: 731
Abstract: There is a long-standing concern that expected discrimination discourages minorities from exercising effort to succeed. Effort withdrawal could contribute to confirming negative stereotypes about minorities’ productivity and enduring disparities. This paper extends the findings of correlational research by exogenously manipulating individuals’ beliefs about discrimination against their group and exploring a causal link between perceived discrimination and individuals’ labor market behavior. For this purpose, we conduct an online experiment in the US with a diverse sample of 2,000 African Americans. We randomly assign individuals to two groups and inform one group about the frequency of discrimination against African Americans in a previous survey. To study the information effects on effort, we subsequently measure participants’ results on a math task. We document that most individuals initially overestimate discrimination against African Americans. The overestimation decreases strongly and significantly as a result of information provision. At the same time, treated individuals, males in particular, attempt and solve correctly fewer math problems compared to untreated individuals. Hence, our findings do not support the common concern that minorities’ inflated expectations about discrimination induce them to underperform.
Keywords: effort; perceived discrimination; racial minorities
Project no.: ERC300851901 (CEP), GA20-11091S (CEP)
Funding provider: AV ČR, GA ČR
Institution: Economics Institute AS ČR (web)
Document availability information: Fulltext is available at external website.
External URL: https://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp731.pdf
Original record: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0334196
Permalink: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-508993
The record appears in these collections:
Research > Institutes ASCR > Economics Institute
Reports > Research reports
Authors: Korlyakova, Darya
Document type: Research reports
Year: 2022
Language: eng
Series: CERGE-EI Working Paper Series, volume: 731
Abstract: There is a long-standing concern that expected discrimination discourages minorities from exercising effort to succeed. Effort withdrawal could contribute to confirming negative stereotypes about minorities’ productivity and enduring disparities. This paper extends the findings of correlational research by exogenously manipulating individuals’ beliefs about discrimination against their group and exploring a causal link between perceived discrimination and individuals’ labor market behavior. For this purpose, we conduct an online experiment in the US with a diverse sample of 2,000 African Americans. We randomly assign individuals to two groups and inform one group about the frequency of discrimination against African Americans in a previous survey. To study the information effects on effort, we subsequently measure participants’ results on a math task. We document that most individuals initially overestimate discrimination against African Americans. The overestimation decreases strongly and significantly as a result of information provision. At the same time, treated individuals, males in particular, attempt and solve correctly fewer math problems compared to untreated individuals. Hence, our findings do not support the common concern that minorities’ inflated expectations about discrimination induce them to underperform.
Keywords: effort; perceived discrimination; racial minorities
Project no.: ERC300851901 (CEP), GA20-11091S (CEP)
Funding provider: AV ČR, GA ČR
Institution: Economics Institute AS ČR (web)
Document availability information: Fulltext is available at external website.
External URL: https://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp731.pdf
Original record: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0334196
Permalink: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-508993
The record appears in these collections:
Research > Institutes ASCR > Economics Institute
Reports > Research reports
Record created 2022-10-09, last modified 2023-12-17