Arbeitspapier

A Note on Motivated Cognition and Discriminatory Beliefs

In this note, we provide evidence that motivated reasoning can be a source of discriminatory beliefs. We employ a representative survey experiment where we exogenously manipulate the presence of a need for justification of anti-social behavior towards an out-group. We provide causal evidence that survey participants devalue members of an out-group to justify taking away money from the group. Our results speak to a long-standing debate on the causes of racism and discrimination and suggest an important role of motivated cognition.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 10019

Classification
Wirtschaft
Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
Subject
discrimination
stereotypes
racism
motivated reasoning
beliefs

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Stötzer, Lasse S.
Zimmermann, Florian
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
(where)
Munich
(when)
2022

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Stötzer, Lasse S.
  • Zimmermann, Florian
  • Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)

Time of origin

  • 2022

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