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Do women receive less blame than men? Attribution of outcomes in a prosocial setting

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  • Nisvan Erkal

    (Department of Economics, University of Melbourne)

  • Lata Gangadharan

    (Department of Economics, Monash University)

  • Boon Han Koh

    (School of Economics and Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science, University of East Anglia)

Abstract

We examine gender biases in the attribution of leaders’ outcomes to their choices versus luck. Leaders make unobservable investment choices that affect the payoffs of group members. High investment is costly to the leader but increases the probability of a good outcome (high payoff). We observe gender biases in the attribution of bad outcomes. Bad outcomes of male (female) leaders are attributed more to their decisions (luck). These biases are driven by male evaluators and evaluators who are prosocial. We find no gender differences in the attribution of good outcomes. We conjecture that benevolent sexism may be driving our results.

Suggested Citation

  • Nisvan Erkal & Lata Gangadharan & Boon Han Koh, 2022. "Do women receive less blame than men? Attribution of outcomes in a prosocial setting," University of East Anglia School of Economics Working Paper Series 2022-05, School of Economics, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    • Handle: RePEc:uea:ueaeco:2022-05
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    Cited by:

    1. Nisvan Erkal & Lata Gangadharan & Boon Han Koh, 2023. "Discrimination in Evaluation Criteria: The Role of Beliefs versus Outcomes," Discussion Papers 2316, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    2. Alexander Coutts & Boon Han Koh & Zahra Murad, 2024. "The signals we give: Performance feedback, gender, and competition," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2024-02, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender biases; Beliefs; Attribution biases; Benevolent sexism; Social preferences; Laboratory experiments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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