Collaborative Research: Social Identity, Mechanism Design and Equilibrium Selection

该项目通过将对与社会认同相关的心理过程（例如，群体内偏见，群体规范）的理解与对经济领域中个人决策（例如，社会偏好，机制设计和均衡选择）的理解相结合，推进心理学和经济学领域的知识。到目前为止，社会心理学的研究已经发展了一个广泛的知识基础，社会身份对态度和行为的影响，但是，很少有人知道这些过程的经济后果。同样，标准的经济学理论已经阐明了个人偏好的潜在过程，但没有将群体认同纳入个人偏好的系统经验基础。该项目借鉴了社会心理学和实验经济学的理论和方法，以弥合两个工作机构，并告知我们社会认同和社会偏好之间的关系。因此，研究结果将扩展我们在这两个研究领域的知识。PI将首先明确衡量社会身份对社会偏好的影响。 根据这项研究的结果，将启动第二个研究流，研究群体身份，特别是共同身份对合同设计和公共产品生产的影响。最后，PI将研究群体身份对均衡选择的影响，这是博弈论中一个重要的未解决问题。更广泛的影响：随着世界变得更加一体化，管理多样性成为一个越来越重要的问题。例如，各组织更经常遇到的问题是，如何整合多样化的员工队伍，并激励来自不同背景的成员为实现共同目标而努力。拟议的研究结果可以告诉我们社会身份在引发个人决策中的作用，以最大限度地提高社会福利，优先考虑组织目标高于自身利益，并付出更多努力。从组织的角度来看，这项研究将提供有关组织是否应该投入资源，以创建和执行其工人之间的共同身份的见解。

This project advances knowledge in both the fields of psychology and economics by integrating understanding of the psychological processes associated with social identity (e.g. ingroup bias, group norms) with understanding of individual decision-making in the economic domain (e.g. social preferences, mechanism design and equilibrium selection). To date, research in social psychology has developed a broad base of knowledge about the influence of social identity on attitudes and behaviors; however, little is known about the economic consequences of these processes. Similarly, standard economic theories have explicated processes underlying individual preferences but have no systematic empirical foundation which incorporates group identity into individual preferences. This project draws on the theory and methods developed in social psychology and experimental economics to bridge the two bodies of work and inform us of the relationship between social identity and social preferences. Thus, the results of the studies will extend our knowledge in both these fields of study. The PIs will first explicitly measure the effects of social identity on social preferences. Based on the outcome of this research, a second research stream will be initiated examining the effects of group identity and, in particular, a common identity, on contract design and public goods productions. Finally, the PIs will examine the effects of group identity on equilibrium selection, an important unresolved issue in game theory. Broader Impact: As the world becomes more integrated, managing diversitybecomes an increasingly important issue to understand. For instance, organizations are more frequently encountering the issue of integrating a diverse workforce, and motivating members coming different backgrounds to work towards a common goal. The results of the proposed research can inform us about the role of social identity in eliciting decisions from individuals to maximize social-welfare, to prioritize organizational goals above self-interest, and to exert more effort. From the perspective of the organizations, this research will provide insights on whether an organization should invest resources to create and enforce a common identity among its workers.