Measuring Image Concern

It is now well documented that individuals tend to change their behavior when their actions are observed by others. Yet there is no systematic way of measuring this dimension of preferences at the individual level. In this paper, we propose a novel experimental game to measure individual sensitivity to social image. We document substantial heterogeneity in the level of image concern and assess its drivers and consequences. While few socioeconomic characteristics seem to have explanatory power, members of ethnic minorities appear less sensitive to being observed by another member of a minority group. Finally, we show that more image concerned individuals tend to be more selfish and find evidence suggesting that they try to avoid situations where their actions might be observed