Week 5

Question 1

To what kind of psychology do social norms and social preferences belong to?

Answer 1

Social psychology

Question 2

To what kind of psychology do system 1 and system 2 thinking and biases and heuristics belong to?

Answer 2

Cognitive psychology

Question 3

What are social norms?

Answer 3

Rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide or constrain social behaviors without the force of law.

Question 4

What 4 reasons does Bicchieri (2006) give for why people prefer to do what they do?

Answer 4

1. They believe it meets a need (utility maximization);
2. Right/moral thing to do (personal norms)
3. Believe other people are doing it (social norms);
4. Believe others think they should do it (social norms).

Question 5

What are descriptive norms?

Answer 5

How people in the group actually behave

Question 6

What are injunctive norms?

Answer 6

How people in a group should behave.

Question 7

What is costly punishment in relation to social pressure?

Answer 7

People are willing to punish members who do not adhere to norms, even at a cost to themselves.

Question 8

What are 4 examples of important social norms?

Answer 8

• Norms for effort provision;
• Norms for risk taking;
• Norms about moral behavior;
• Norms for loyalty.

Question 9

The clash between what norms is particularly important in accounting?

Answer 9

In accounting the organizational norms vs professional norms are particularly important.

Question 10

what is inequality averse?

Answer 10

Deviating from equality is only justified if there is a good reason for it.

Question 11

What is equity theory?

Answer 11

People calculate a ratio of their inputs and outputs, they compare with colleagues and bring this ratio in line.

Question 12

What is reciprocity?

Answer 12

We act as bookkeepers in interactions with others, we have debit and credit balances. We tend to be nice to people who are nice to us, and vice versa.

Question 13

What are the two fundamental forces in any form of human organization?

Answer 13

Cooperation and competition are the fundamental forces in any form of human organization.

Question 14

What describes the status in groups?

Answer 14

In a group people are categorized as winners or losers. Being the best performer brings joy, being the worst brings pain and shame.

Question 15

What is an important source of pride and shame?

Answer 15

One important source of pride and shame is the achievement of targets.

Question 16

What is goal setting theory?

Answer 16

Specific challenging goals motivate more than do-your-best goals.

Question 17

What is gamification and why does it work?

Answer 17

Mundane tasks can be made more motivating by integrating gaming elements. Points can be redeemed for non-cash rewards. Money would be less motivating due to mental accounting.

Question 18

What characterizes in-group favoritism

Answer 18

“Us” versus “Them”
There is a cooperation with the in-group, and competition with the out-group.

This leads to in-group favoritism and out-group derogation.