Letting off Steam! Experimental Evidence on Inappropriate Punishment

Arbeitspapier

Aggression is displaced when provocations cannot be directly retaliated against and when it is redirected towards a target innocent of any wrongdoing. While this phenomenon is widespread, it has not been widely explored in experimental economics. We fill this gap and find that a sizeable proportion of subjects (37%), when treated unfairly, punish co-players who are not at all responsible for the unfairness. When in a disadvantaged position, inequity-aversion seems to be the driving force of punishment, yet when treated fairly, some subjects (17%) exhibit status-seeking behavior. Moreover, students affiliated with an armed forces university are much more likely than regular students to engage in displaced aggression.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: MAGKS Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics ; No. 39-2020

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual ; Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
• Subject: Displaced Aggression ; Punishment ; Soldiers ; Dictator Game ; Experiment

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Khachatryan, Elina ; Bühren, Christoph
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Philipps-University Marburg, School of Business and Economics
• (where): Marburg
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/234844
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET