Confidence-Enhanced Performance

30 Pages Posted: 4 Apr 2003

See all articles by Olivier Compte

Olivier Compte

Paris School of Economics (PSE); Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech

Andrew Postlewaite

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics

Date Written: March 2003

Abstract

There is ample evidence that emotions affect performance. Positive emotions can improve performance, while negative ones may diminish it. For example, the fears induced by the possibility of failure or of negative evaluations have physiological consequences (shaking, loss of concentration) that may impair performance in sports, on stage or at school. There is also ample evidence that individuals have distorted recollection of past events, and distorted attributions of the causes of successes of failures. Recollection of good events or successes is typically easier than recollection of bad ones or failures. Successes tend to be attributed to intrinsic aptitudes or own effort, while failures are attributed to bad luck. In addition, these attributions are often reversed when judging the performance of others. The objective of this paper is to incorporate the first phenomenon above into an otherwise standard decision theoretic model, and show that in a world where performance depends on emotions, biases in information processing enhance welfare.

Note: A previous version of this paper can be downloaded at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=300422

Keywords: Confidence, Perception, Psychology

JEL Classification: D8

Suggested Citation

Compte, Olivier and Postlewaite, Andrew, Confidence-Enhanced Performance (March 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=392684 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.392684

Olivier Compte

Paris School of Economics (PSE) ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014
France

Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech ( email )

Cité Descartes, 8 Av. Blaise Pascal
Champs sur Marne, 77420
France

Andrew Postlewaite (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics ( email )

Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science
133 South 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6297
United States
215-898-7350 (Phone)
215-573-2057 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.upenn.edu/~apostlew