A must lie situation – avoiding giving negative feedback

B-Tier
Journal: Games and Economic Behavior
Year: 2017
Volume: 102
Issue: C
Pages: 445-454

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We examine under what conditions people provide accurate feedback to others. We use feedback regarding attractiveness, a trait people care about, and for which objective information is hard to obtain. Our results show that people avoid giving accurate face-to-face feedback to less attractive individuals, even if lying in this context comes at a monetary cost to both the person who gives the feedback and the receiver. A substantial increase of these costs does not increase the accuracy of feedback. However, when feedback is provided anonymously, the aversion to giving negative feedback is reduced.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:gamebe:v:102:y:2017:i:c:p:445-454
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-25