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Experimental Evidence on the Acceptance of Males Falling Behind

Author

Listed:
  • Alexander W Cappelen
  • Ranveig Falch
  • Bertil Tungodden

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been an increase in the share of males struggling in the labor market and education. We show in a set of large-scale experimental studies involving more than 35,000 Americans that people are more accepting of males falling behind than they are of females falling behind, and less in agreement with government policies supporting males falling behind. We provide evidence of the underlying mechanism being statistical fairness discrimination: People consider males falling behind to be less deserving of support than females falling behind because they are more likely to believe that males fall behind due to lack of effort. These findings are important for understanding how society perceives and responds to the growing number of disadvantaged males.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander W Cappelen & Ranveig Falch & Bertil Tungodden, 2025. "Experimental Evidence on the Acceptance of Males Falling Behind," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 23(6), pages 2212-2240.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:23:y:2025:i:6:p:2212-2240.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvaf016
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    2. Haeckl, Simone & Moeller, Jakob & Zednik, Anita, 2025. "Can being competitive but unsuccessful harm you, even more so if you are a woman?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    3. Ugalde A., Paola, 2025. "Gendered effects of labels on advanced course enrollment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    4. Koch, Alexander K. & Nafziger, Julia, 2025. "Gender Norms, Stereotypical Beliefs, and Competitiveness," IZA Discussion Papers 17840, IZA Network @ LISER.
    5. Farukh, Razi & Heinz, Matthias & Kerkhof, Anna & Schumacher, Heiner, 2025. "Attitudes to migration and the market for news," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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