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Choosing the Joneses: Endogenous Goals and Reference Standards
A growing economic literature stresses the importance of relative comparisons, e.g., for savings and consumption or happiness. In this literature it is usually assumed that reference standards against which people compare themselves are exogenously given. In contrast, findings from social psychology...
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| Published in: | The Scandinavian journal of economics 2004-09, Vol.106 (3), p.417-435 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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| cited_by | cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c6760-c538b020124bef8ba3cbf278ec6d78e7c9698d7a7ed4abb808c0e058af426b663 |
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| cites | cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c6760-c538b020124bef8ba3cbf278ec6d78e7c9698d7a7ed4abb808c0e058af426b663 |
| container_end_page | 435 |
| container_issue | 3 |
| container_start_page | 417 |
| container_title | The Scandinavian journal of economics |
| container_volume | 106 |
| creator | Falk, Armin Knell, Markus |
| description | A growing economic literature stresses the importance of relative comparisons, e.g., for savings and consumption or happiness. In this literature it is usually assumed that reference standards against which people compare themselves are exogenously given. In contrast, findings from social psychology suggest that people play an active role in determining their reference standards. We introduce a social comparison model where people choose their reference standards to serve motives of self-improvement and self-enhancement. The model predicts that reference standards increase in individuals' abilities and that people thus tend to compare themselves to similar others. The results of a questionnaire study confirm the prediction of the model. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1111/j.0347-0520.2004.00370.x |
| format | article |
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| fulltext | fulltext |
| identifier | ISSN: 0347-0520 |
| ispartof | The Scandinavian journal of economics, 2004-09, Vol.106 (3), p.417-435 |
| issn | 0347-0520 1467-9442 1467-9442 |
| language | eng |
| recordid | cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_38025906 |
| source | EconLit s plnými texty; EBSCOhost Business Source Ultimate; International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS); JSTOR Archival Journals and Primary Sources Collection; Wiley-Blackwell Read & Publish Collection |
| subjects | Attitude formation College students Comparative analysis Consumption D62 D63 Economic models Economics goals H31 Happiness High school students High schools Human behaviour Logical givens Modeling Motivation Reference groups Reference standard Research methods Self-evaluation Social comparison Social psychology Studies Z13 |
| title | Choosing the Joneses: Endogenous Goals and Reference Standards |
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