@article{5e5e3920f25b4e9ab4e008084ab0b08c,
title = "Tra i Leoni: Revealing the preferences behind a superstition",
abstract = "We examine a superstition for which adherence is nearly universal among its target population. Using a combination of field interventions that involve unsuspecting participants and a lab-style value elicitation, we investigate the nature and strength of peoples{\textquoteright} underlying preferences. While a substantial minority of people are willing to incur a relatively high individual cost in order to adhere to the superstition, for many, adherence is contingent on the behavior of others. Our findings are consistent with the idea that it is the conforming nature of the majority that sustains the false beliefs of the minority.",
keywords = "Conformity, Field experiment, Lab-in-the-field, Superstition",
author = "Invernizzi, {Giovanna M.} and Miller, {Joshua B.} and Tommaso Coen and Martin Dufwenberg and Oliveira, {Luiz Edgard R.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work does not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or the Federal Reserve System and was completed prior to Oliveira's affiliation. We are grateful to Bocconi University, which provided the funding. This draft has benefitted from helpful comments and suggestions from Douglas Bernheim, Gary Charness, Filip Fidanoski, Aidin Hajikhameneh, Michael McBride, Stuart Vyse, and referees. We would also like to thank seminar participants at University of Southern Denmark, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford Behavioral Lunch, University of New South Wales, Renmin University, as well as conference participants at 1st CoCoLab Workshop, University of C{\^o}te d'Azur, Economic Science Association World Meeting, and the Southwest Experimental and Behavioral Economics conference (SWEBE). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier B.V.",
year = "2021",
month = jan,
doi = "10.1016/j.joep.2020.102324",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "82",
journal = "Journal of Economic Psychology",
issn = "0167-4870",
publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",
}