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Asymmetric Naïveté: Beliefs About Self-Control

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  • Anastassia Fedyk

    (Haas School of Business. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720)

Abstract

Do individuals anticipate time inconsistency in others? This paper jointly investigates beliefs about one’s own and others’ present bias. In an online laboratory experiment, participants engaged in a real-effort task display little awareness of their own present bias but anticipate present bias in others. Structurally, I estimate a present bias parameter β of 0.82. Participants perceive others’ β to be 0.87, indicating substantial sophistication, contrasted with 1.03 for themselves, indicating full naïveté. At the individual level, asymmetric naïveté correlates with overoptimism regarding one’s own versus others’ task enjoyment and time availability. The wedge in beliefs about present bias can inform equilibrium outcomes in a number of collaborative, competitive, and hierarchical settings, including teams in the workplace, management practices such as deadlines and tournament incentive schemes, and household consumption decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Anastassia Fedyk, 2025. "Asymmetric Naïveté: Beliefs About Self-Control," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(7), pages 6047-6068, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:71:y:2025:i:7:p:6047-6068
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.01780
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