Motivated Reasoning in the Social Domain
(with Jing Li, Xinxin Zhu and Jichuan Zong)
Prof. Peiran JIAO
Associate Professor of Finance
School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University
Date: 12 August 2024 (Monday)
Time: 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Venue: E22-G015
Host: Prof. Jia YUAN, Associate Professor in Business Economics
Abstract
Individuals engage in motivated reasoning, trying to maintain their self-image in ego-relevant domains. This paper experimentally tests motivated reasoning regarding one’s altruism in two forms, namely asymmetric updating and selective recall, and their dynamics. We, for the first time, extend the optimistic updating bias to the domain of social behavior. More interestingly, we document new evidence that suggests a belief-based utility foundation for asymmetric updating. That is, we find a novel framing effect: asymmetric updating was more severe when participants update beliefs about being the least selfish than about being the most altruistic. Moreover, we replicate and extend earlier findings about selective recall and find the dynamic patterns of recalls and beliefs were largely consistent. We further demonstrate that motivated reasoning is more likely a deliberate process rather than an unintended behavioral mistake.
Speaker
Prof. Peiran JIAO is an Associate Professor of Finance at the Department of Finance, School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University. He is also the co-director of the UM-BIC (University of Maastricht Behavioral Insights Centre). He is an Associate Fellow at Nuffield College, the University of Oxford, and an Associate Member of the Centre for Experimental Social Sciences (CESS) – Nuffield. His research mainly focuses on behavioral and experimental finance/economics. His recent research includes journals on Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Review of Economics and Statistics.
All are welcome!
