---
_id: '59521'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 'Social norms fundamentally shape economic decision-making, yet individuals
    often systematically misperceive what others think and do, potentially leading
    to suboptimal social outcomes. We examine how such misperceptions affect behaviour
    and whether correcting them can induce a behavioural change, using whistleblowing
    as an application. Through survey data and an incentivized laboratory experiment,
    we demonstrate that while a majority of individuals (>75%) privately support whistleblowing,
    almost half (45.92%) misperceive the majority’s view. Both personal normative
    beliefs and normative expectations strongly predict whistleblowing behaviour.
    Their alignment is particularly noteworthy: individuals who personally support
    whistleblowing are more likely to report misconduct when they believe others share
    their views. A social information intervention revealing the true distribution
    of peer support affects subgroups differently: while it increases whistleblowing
    behaviour among individuals who already personally favour reporting misconduct,
    there is no effect among those who are personally resistant to it. Still, given
    the relatively low cost of such social information interventions, they offer an
    economically viable means of achieving behavioural change in at least some of
    the targeted individuals. '
author:
- first_name: Behnud
  full_name: Mir Djawadi, Behnud
  id: '26032'
  last_name: Mir Djawadi
  orcid: 0000-0002-6271-5912
- first_name: Sabrina
  full_name: Plaß, Sabrina
  id: '34502'
  last_name: Plaß
- first_name: Sabrina
  full_name: Loer, Sabrina
  id: '38794'
  last_name: Loer
citation:
  ama: 'Mir Djawadi B, Plaß S, Loer S. <i>“I Don’t Believe That You Believe What I
    Believe”: An Experiment on Misperceptions of Social Norms and Whistleblowing</i>.;
    2024.'
  apa: 'Mir Djawadi, B., Plaß, S., &#38; Loer, S. (2024). <i>“I don’t believe that
    you believe what I believe”: an experiment on misperceptions of social norms and
    whistleblowing</i>.'
  bibtex: '@book{Mir Djawadi_Plaß_Loer_2024, title={“I don’t believe that you believe
    what I believe”: an experiment on misperceptions of social norms and whistleblowing},
    author={Mir Djawadi, Behnud and Plaß, Sabrina and Loer, Sabrina}, year={2024}
    }'
  chicago: 'Mir Djawadi, Behnud, Sabrina Plaß, and Sabrina Loer. <i>“I Don’t Believe
    That You Believe What I Believe”: An Experiment on Misperceptions of Social Norms
    and Whistleblowing</i>, 2024.'
  ieee: 'B. Mir Djawadi, S. Plaß, and S. Loer, <i>“I don’t believe that you believe
    what I believe”: an experiment on misperceptions of social norms and whistleblowing</i>.
    2024.'
  mla: 'Mir Djawadi, Behnud, et al. <i>“I Don’t Believe That You Believe What I Believe”:
    An Experiment on Misperceptions of Social Norms and Whistleblowing</i>. 2024.'
  short: 'B. Mir Djawadi, S. Plaß, S. Loer, “I Don’t Believe That You Believe What
    I Believe”: An Experiment on Misperceptions of Social Norms and Whistleblowing,
    2024.'
date_created: 2025-04-11T14:05:03Z
date_updated: 2025-04-11T19:30:59Z
keyword:
- Social Norms
- Normative Expectations
- Personal Normative Belief
- Misperceptions
- Whistleblowing
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: file:///C:/Users/splass/Downloads/ssrn-4868252-2.pdf
oa: '1'
status: public
title: '“I don’t believe that you believe what I believe”: an experiment on misperceptions
  of social norms and whistleblowing'
type: working_paper
user_id: '34502'
year: '2024'
...