Papers by Amit Bhattacharjee
ACR North American Advances, 2020
The separation of psychological space into self and object has laid the foundation for much theor... more The separation of psychological space into self and object has laid the foundation for much theory and research (Lewin 1951; Heider 1958). While the traditional view of attitudes holds that the formation of attitudes towards objects is driven by the attributes of those objects, aspects of one’s core values and beliefs can also serve as the basis for such attitudes (Reed, Cohen and Bhattacharjee 2009). However, little research has examined how core beliefs are defined and expressed, and how these processes are distinct from the definition and expression of less consequential beliefs. My dissertation examines processes of core belief construction, maintenance, and expression. For instance, in constructing systems of core belief, people seek to maintain a sense of ownership over how a given identity is defined and what it means to them (Deci and Ryan 1985). Similarly, in communicating their beliefs to others, choices that are unconstrained are likely to be more meaningful as expression...
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2020
Who is expected to donate to charity, and how much should they give? Intuitively, the less financ... more Who is expected to donate to charity, and how much should they give? Intuitively, the less financially constrained someone is the more they should give. How then do people evaluate who is constrained and who has money to spare? We argue that perceptions of spare money are reference-dependent with respect to one's current self: those who earn more than oneself are perceived as having an abundance of spare money and thus as ethically obligated to donate. However, those higher earners themselves report having little to spare, and thus apply lower donation standards to themselves. Moreover, a meta-analysis of our file-drawer reveals an asymmetry: individuals overestimate the spare money of higher earners but estimate the scant spare money of lower earners more accurately. Across all incomes assessed, people "pass the buck" to wealthier others (or to their future wealthier selves), who in turn, "pass the buck" to even wealthier others.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2022
Self-control refers to the ability to choose options with greater long-term benefits over more im... more Self-control refers to the ability to choose options with greater long-term benefits over more immediately tempting options. For personal choices that do not affect others, self-control is often conceptualized as morally irrelevant. However, four focal experiments and five supplemental experiments demonstrate that self-control success in apparently nonmoral domains enhances evaluations of moral character, but self-control failure is not regarded as evidence of moral corruption. This asymmetry supports our moral-ability hypothesis: self-control is regarded as the ability to bring about intended outcomes, which is believed necessary for moral goodness but not moral badness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
PsycEXTRA Dataset
In opposition to foundational economic principles, four studies show that people view profit as f... more In opposition to foundational economic principles, four studies show that people view profit as fundamentally socially harmful. Studies 1 and 2 find a strong negative correlation between profit and perceived social value across both real firms and entire industries. This relationship holds for both perceived profit and actual profit information from public data. Study 3 confirms that this effect holds when profit motive is manipulated. Otherwise identically-described organizations are seen as providing less value and doing more harm when described as "for-profit" rather than nonprofit. Study 4 demonstrates that people hold a zero-sum conception of profit that neglects the disciplining effects of competition. People see harmful business practices as profitable, even after an intervention encouraging consideration of long-term consequences. This tendency is unrelated to self-reported political ideology. Even in one of the world's most market-oriented cultures, people doubt the ability of profit-seeking business to benefit society.
ACR North American Advances, 2011
As sentiments arising from the current financial crisis illustrate, people often behave as if pro... more As sentiments arising from the current financial crisis illustrate, people often behave as if profit-seeking and social good are necessarily at odds. Narrative themes involving evil capitalists have been prevalent in literature and films from Shakespeare to the modern day (Ribstein 2009). However, economists have long noted that this association is carried too far, such that profit-seeking is seen as fundamentally in conflict with social welfare: an "ineradicable prejudice that every action intended to serve the profit interest must be antisocial by this fact alone (Schumpeter 1954 p. 234)." We build on Caplan's (2007) notion of antimarket bias, which proposes that the benefits of the market mechanism in creating and rewarding value for society are systematically underestimated (Caplan and Cowen 2004). In other words, market transactions are regarded as mere transfers of wealth from the pockets of consumers to firms (Caplan 2007). Thus, profits may be perceived to indicate value being taken from consumers rather than provided to consumers-the opposite of what one might expect in a functioning market. Consistent with this theorizing, we show in three studies that consumers neglect the incentive properties of profit in rewarding value, and instead focus on the perceived intentions of organizations. In study 1, participants either estimated or viewed actual profit figures for 32 US firms sampled from the Fortune 500 list and rated them on a number of dimensions of social good. Across firms, estimated profits were systematically far higher than actual profits, consistent with past findings of profit overestimation (e.g. Bolton Warlop and Alba 2003). More importantly, higher estimated profits were positively correlated with perceptions of social harm, unfair business practices, and a lack of value to society, but also with effectiveness in achieving organizational goals. Thus, even though higher profits are thought to indicate effectiveness in achieving firm objectives, those objectives are presumably seen as socially harmful and out of step with the objectives of society. This pattern also held for actual gross profits, suggesting that participants' perceptions were reasonably accurate, and actual revenues, suggesting that size and prominence may serve as a proxy for perceived profitability. In order to eliminate pre-existing associations with particular firms and test these notions in a more tightly controlled setting, study 2 provided participants with descriptions of the business practices of hypothetical organizations across four different industries, varying only whether the organization was described as a for-profit corporation or a non-profit organization. After reading each scenario, participants rated the organization described on perceived social value and effectiveness. Consistent with study 1, even identicallydescribed hypothetical organizations were seen as less valuable to society, yet more effective, when they were described as for-profit corporations (vs. nonprofit organizations). Thus, independent of actual profitability, merely being motivated by profits was enough to produce seemingly contradictory, simultaneous judgments of greater effectiveness and diminished value.
ACR North American Advances, 2017
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2017
A large body of research shows that tastes can reliably signal social group membership. Because s... more A large body of research shows that tastes can reliably signal social group membership. Because standards of good taste vary between groups, the costs of acquiring them prevents dishonest signaling by outsiders. However, little research has examined signals of good taste within social groups, where standards and ratings of good taste are common knowledge and acquisition costs cannot ensure honesty. Five studies show that when simulating good taste is easy, observers make inferences about others' authenticity directly from their consumption choices. Perceptions that an individual has made good choices increase monotonically with a greater proportion of high-rated options, but perceptions of their authenticity decrease monotonically. Relative to choosing uniformly good options, some bad choices can signal that one's choices reflect authentic preference rather than pretense. Accordingly, judgments that an individual can independently discern good options from bad, and the desire to socialize with them and seek their recommendations, are non-monotonic and highest when they make a few bad choices. Only when good choices are thought to reflect authentic motives do they effectively signal good taste.
Center develops and promotes effective corporate and public policies for low‐probability events w... more Center develops and promotes effective corporate and public policies for low‐probability events with potentially catastrophic consequences through the integration of risk assessment, and risk perception with risk management strategies. Natural disasters, technological hazards, and national and international security issues (e.g., terrorism risk insurance markets, protection of critical infrastructure, global security) are among the extreme events that are the focus of the Center’s research. The Risk Center’s neutrality allows it to undertake large‐scale projects in conjunction with other researchers and organizations in the public and private sectors. Building on the disciplines of economics, decision sciences, finance, insurance, marketing and psychology, the Center supports and undertakes field and experimental studies of risk and uncertainty to better understand how individuals and organizations make choices under conditions of risk and uncertainty. Risk Center research also inve...
ACR North American Advances, 2016
Marketing Letters
We propose that autonomy is a crucial aspect of consumer choice. We offer a definition that situa... more We propose that autonomy is a crucial aspect of consumer choice. We offer a definition that situates autonomy among related constructs in philosophy and psychology, contrast actual with perceived autonomy in consumer contexts, examine the resilience of perceived autonomy, and sketch out an agenda for research into the role of perceived autonomy in an evolving marketplace increasingly characterized by automation.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
We applaud Boyer & Petersen's (B&P's) approach to a fascinating topic. Their arguments ag... more We applaud Boyer & Petersen's (B&P's) approach to a fascinating topic. Their arguments against understanding folk-economic beliefs (FEBs) in terms of economic ignorance or specific biases, however, are overly pessimistic. Economic theory is the reason beliefs about such disparate phenomena are labeled “economic” and “folk.” More importantly, some FEBs are better understood by examining current rather than ancestral contexts of exchange.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Profit-seeking firms are stereotypically depicted as immoral and harmful to society. At the same ... more Profit-seeking firms are stereotypically depicted as immoral and harmful to society. At the same time, profit-driven enterprise has contributed immensely to human prosperity. Though scholars agree that profit can incentivize societally beneficial behaviors, people may neglect this possibility. In 7 studies, we show that people see business profit as necessarily in conflict with social good, a view we call anti-profit beliefs. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that U.S. participants hold anti-profit views of real U.S. firms and industries. Study 3 shows that hypothetical organizations are seen as doing more harm when they are labeled "for-profit" rather than "non-profit," while Study 4 shows that increasing harm to society is viewed as a strategy for increasing a hypothetical firm's long-run profitability. Studies 5-7 demonstrate that carefully prompting subjects to consider the long run incentives of profit can attenuate anti-profit beliefs, while prompting short run thinking does nothing relative to a control. Together, these results suggest that the default view of profits is zero-sum. While people readily grasp how profit can incentivize firms to engage in practices that harm others, they neglect how it can incentivize firms to engage in practices that benefit others. Accordingly, people's stereotypes of profit-seeking firms are excessively negative. Even in one of the most market-oriented societies in history, people doubt the contributions of profit-seeking industry to societal progress. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Papers by Amit Bhattacharjee