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Positional preferences and narcissism: evidence from ‘money burning’ dictator games

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  • Adam Ayaita
  • Kerstin Pull

Abstract

We study the relationship between positional preferences (i.e., preferences concerning the relative rank or position in comparison to others) and narcissism. We use six ‘money burning’ mini-dictator games to measure positional preferences. Two dimensions of narcissism are distinguished: narcissistic admiration (self-enhancement through searching for being admired) and narcissistic rivalry (self-defence through an antagonistic orientation towards others). Controlling for other relevant individual characteristics such as the Big Five personality traits and gender, we find evidence that narcissistic admiration is a negative predictor and narcissistic rivalry a positive predictor of positional preferences. We further find exploratory evidence that studying business or economics as a major (versus minor) subject is associated with less positional preferences and that the relationships between narcissism and positional preferences are mediated by decision makers’ expectations with regard to other players’ choices.

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  • Adam Ayaita & Kerstin Pull, 2022. "Positional preferences and narcissism: evidence from ‘money burning’ dictator games," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 267-271, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:29:y:2022:i:3:p:267-271
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2020.1863320
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    1. Thomas Glökler & Kerstin Pull & Manfred Stadler, 2022. "Do Output-Dependent Prizes Alleviate the Sabotage Problem in Tournaments?," Games, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, September.

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    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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