Do I really want to know? A cognitive dissonance-based explanation of other-regarding behavior (Q2344967)

Summary: We investigate to what extent genuine social preferences can explain observed other-regarding behavior. In a dictator game variant subjects can choose whether to learn about the consequences of their choice for the receiver. We find that a majority of subjects showing other-regarding behavior when the payoffs of the receiver are known, choose to ignore these consequences if possible. This behavior is inconsistent with preferences about outcomes. Other-regarding behavior may also be explained by avoiding cognitive dissonance as in [\textit{J. Konow}, ``Fair shares: accountability and cognitive dissonance in allocation decisions'', Am. Econ. Rev. 90, No. 4, 1072--1091 (2000; \url{doi:10.1257/aer.90.4.1072})]. Our experiment's choice data is in line with this approach. In addition, we successfully relate individual behavior to proxies for cognitive dissonance.