X-Message-Number: 18553
From: 
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 19:41:26 GMT
Subject: Research Shows Just How Much People Hate A Winner

Research Shows Just How Much People Hate A Winner 

New research by economists at the Universities of Warwick and Oxford in the
UK has provided surprising insight into just how much people hate a winner.

It also shows what lengths human beings are prepared to go to damage a
winner out of a sense of envy or fairness. 

The researchers, Professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick and
Dr. Daniel Zizzo of Oxford, designed a new kind of experiment, played with
real cash, in which subjects could anonymously  burn  away other people s
money -- but only at the cost of giving up some of their own. 

Despite this cost to themselves, and contrary to economists  usual
assumptions, 62% of those tested chose to destroy part of other test
subjects  cash. In the experiment, half of all the laboratory earnings were
deliberately destroyed by fellow subjects.

Everyone in the laboratory sessions was anonymous and hidden. The subjects
had only a computer terminal, into which they played, and in which they
could see how much other people were winning.

In each session, the test subjects began with a betting stage which gave
them some money (about 10 pounds, but sometimes much more), creating an
unequal wealth distribution. 

In the final stage, the  burning  stage, subjects could if they wished
eliminate ( burn away ) other people s money -  but only by giving up some
of their own cash winnings. At the most expensive level, they had to give
up 25 pence to destroy 1 full pound owned by someone else. 

It was made clear to all subjects that burning others would reduce the cash
of the person choosing to burn.

The economists expected little burning, and especially that the laboratory
subjects would stop destroying other people s money once the price reached
0.25, but in fact they found that even this high price did little to stop
people from annihilating other people s wealth. Most individuals still
chose to hurt others, despite the large cost to their own pocket.

The researchers found that those who gained the most additional money at
the betting stage burned poor and rich alike, while disadvantaged
laboratory subjects mainly targeted those subjects they saw getting what
they perceived as undeserved financial windfalls. 

The authors conclude that  our experiment measures the dark side of human
nature. 

(Reference:  Are People Willing to Pay to Reduce Others  Incomes?  Annales
D Economie et de Statistique, Special edition Vol 64 Feb 2002.) 

Related website:

Professor Oswald's page 

[Contact: Professor Andrew Oswald, Peter Dunn ]



13-Feb-2002

.................
Michael LaTorra




Member:
Extropy Institute: www.extropy.org
World Transhumanist Association: www.transhumanism.org
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