Fairness and Shame in the Power to Take

This experimental study investigates how behavior changes after punishment for a selfish action. The focus is on how proposers in a power-to-take game adjust their behavior depending on their fairness perceptions, their experienced emotions, and their interaction with responders. We find that fairness plays an important role. Fair-minded proposers tend to feel less regret when they learn they could have taken more. Furthermore, proposers who take more than their perceived fairness norm feel more shame. This induces proposers to lower their claims. We also find that the perceived fairness norm varies considerably between individuals. Therefore, it is not the case that proposers who considered themselves fair are particularly nice to responders.