Inequality, Personality, and the Demand for Fair Outcomes
John Cadigan
American University
School of Public Affairs
Pamela Schmitt
United States Naval Academy
Department of Economics
Kurtis Swope
United States Naval Academy
Department of Economics
Abstract
We use a modified dictator game experiment to investigate subjects’ preferences
for fairness. Motivated by recent theoretical research on inequality
aversion (see Fehr and Scmidt (1999) and Bolton and Ockenfels (2000)),
we present subjects with several choices over alternative income distributions.
We find that subjects’ decisions are affected by their own payoffs as well
as changes in the other participant’s earnings, the amount and type of
inequality, and the experimental stakes. Furthermore, we examine
the impact of personality preferences (as measured by the widely used Myers
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) and gender on subject behavior. Consistent
with the Jungian theory of mental activity, we find that subjects with
an orientation to extraversion and preference for using feeling judgment
are more likely to be concerned with other participant’s payoffs.
Also, females chose to implement fair outcomes more (less) often than males
when unfair outcomes are disadvantageous (advantageous) to them.