Gender Differences in Honesty: The Role of Social Value Orientation
25 Pages Posted: 11 Sep 2016 Last revised: 10 Feb 2018
Date Written: July 1, 2017
Abstract
This paper experimentally analyzes the role of individual social value orientation (SVO) on honest behavior. We focus on a situation where dishonest behavior pays off at somebody else's cost. In which case, distributional preferences might matter for the willingness to act honestly. To examine this link we conduct a laboratory experiment where we first elicit SVO to measure distributional preferences. Afterwards, we implement a die rolling game to elicit dishonest behavior at an individual level. We detect a positive correlation between subjects' SVO angle and honest behavior. Furthermore, the data confirm common gender differences, i.e., women are significantly more honest than men. Additionally, we find that, on average, women have higher SVO angles than men. A mediation analysis reveals that SVO explains the gender effect.
Keywords: Experiment, Gender Differences, Honesty, Social Value Orientation
JEL Classification: C91, D61, D62, J16
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation