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Because of you I did not give up – Peer effects in perseverance

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  • Gerhards, Leonie
  • Gravert, Christina

Abstract

It has been shown that both perseverance as well as peer effects affect performance. In our experiment, we investigate the interplay between these two factors. Participants work on a wordplay task where we quantify perseverance as the decision to continue working hard in the face of challenges. We find that persevering on the task is significantly correlated with the psychological questionnaire measure of grit (Duckworth et al., 2007). In an additional treatment, we provide participants with information about a peer’s contemporaneous perseverance on the task. This significantly increases participants’ perseverance on the task independently of their perseverance as measured in the questionnaire, suggesting that it does not only depend on individuals’ inherent traits, but can also be increased by peers.

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  • Gerhards, Leonie & Gravert, Christina, 2020. "Because of you I did not give up – Peer effects in perseverance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:81:y:2020:i:c:s0167487020300775
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2020.102316
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Grit; Perseverance; Laboratory experiment; Peer effects; Real-effort;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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