Inequality, emotions and reconciliation: exploratory lab in the field experiment in Colombia

• Ano de defesa: 2022
• Autor(a) principal: Gaviria Dugang, Adriana
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Palavras-chave em Português: Desigualdade; Emoção; Psicologia aplicada; Comportamento humano; Desigualdade econômica; Desigualdade social; Colômbia
• Link de acesso: http://app.uff.br/riuff/handle/1/27166

This thesis explored the intersection between inequality, emotions, and reconciliation in Colombia, a country marked both by social injustice and the challenge of building a stable and lasting peace. A multi-disciplinary approach combining tools and conceptual frameworks from behavioral economics and psychology was adopted to explore the barriers for reconciliation in four dimensions: (i) behavior; (ii) emotions; (iii) psychological attitudes and (iv) public opinion. The research questions focused on understanding the drivers of inequality at the micro level in terms of fairness perceptions, expectations, psychological attitudes, and behavior; subjects’ emotional experiences in situations of advantageous and disadvantageous inequality; and the ways in which inequality can hinder reconciliation in the Colombian context. The empirical approach was based on a lab-in-the- field experiment that explored how inequality affects social interactions at the micro level. We introduced inequality treatments in which we manipulate the distribution of the endowments. The post-experimental survey captured psychological attitudes as well as beliefs, attitudes and opinions towards reconciliation and the peace agreement signed in 2016 between the National Government and FARC guerrilla. Results from the economic experiment suggest that inequality triggers negative emotions even to those in an advantageous position. Nevertheless, there seems to be a social norm guiding behavior, fairness perceptions and expectations toward the perpetuation on inequality. Tolerance for inequality at the micro level contrasts with the ambitious quest for social justice at the macro level, as the public opinion analysis shows that structural issues are important for reconciliation and that the components of the peace agreement that address structural inequalities are supported by most participants. In general, the thesis shows that inequality is a barrier for reconciliation in Colombia and that emotions are a crucial piece of the puzzle explaining the relationship between inequality and reconciliation. This thesis contributes to the literature in the field of behavioral economics studying inequality, social preferences, and social norms. Also, it complements research in diverse fields addressing the relationship between inequality and reconciliation. Furthermore, the dissertation innovates methodologically by introducing a set of psychological variables to explore what participants bring into the lab at the identity layer.