Social Identity, Behavior, and Personality: Evidence from India. Issue 4 (3rd April 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dasgupta, Utteeyo; Mani, Subha; Sharma, Smriti; Singhal, Saurabh
• Is Part Of: Journal of development studies. Volume 59:Issue 4(2023)
• Page Start: 472
• Page End: 489
• Publication Date: 2023-04-03
• Subjects: Behavioral preferences -- personality -- caste -- experiments -- India; Economic development -- Periodicals; Economic history -- 1945- -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Développement économique -- Périodiques; Histoire économique -- 1945- -- Périodiques; Pays en voie de développement -- Conditions économiques -- Périodiques; 338.91
• DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2022.2139607
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-0388

Abstract

Abstract: Hierarchies in social identities are integrally related to divergences in economic status. In India, caste is a significant social identity where discriminatory practices have resulted in poor outcomes for the lower castes. While there is considerable research on differences in economic outcomes along caste lines, there is limited work on behavioral preferences and personality traits that can also be adversely affected by such identity hierarchies, and that are important determinants of educational attainment and labor market performance. Combining rich data from incentivized tasks and surveys conducted among a large sample of university students, we find that the historically marginalized Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCSTs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) report lower scores than upper castes along several dimensions of economic behavior, such as competitiveness and confidence and personality traits, such as grit, locus of control, and conscientiousness. Further, socioeconomic status has a limited compensatory role in mitigating these gaps.