About this Research Topic
In the last two decades, the idea that people have image concerns vis-à-vis themselves and others has become widely accepted in economics. This has helped to go beyond some of the limitations inherent to models of other-regarding preferences, which struggle to explain phenomena like crowding out or the adherence to harmful norms. Indeed, image concerns—whether in terms of intelligence, competence, morality, or identity—can lead to both positive and negative outcomes and affect many areas of economic behavior, from investment and education decisions to voting and prosocial behavior. As such, they offer an effective way to model the interplay between economic incentives, psychological motivations, and social dynamics in shaping individual choices. Despite the meaningful progress achieved in recent years, there are still many promising avenues for research.
The primary aim of this Research Topic is to shed light on the multifaceted nature of image concerns in economic decision-making. We aim to cover a wide range of different questions including, but not limited to:
• when and to what extent do image concerns matter
• heterogeneity in image concerns
• interplay of self- and social image and of different types of image concerns
• interplay of image concerns and other social constructs, such as social norms and social identities
• new ways of measuring image concerns, especially in the field
• welfare consequences of image concerns and implications for policy makers.
We invite contributions that advance the knowledge on image concerns in experimental and behavioral economics. We welcome empirical, theoretical, experimental, and interdisciplinary studies. Manuscripts should aim to provide novel insights and advance our understanding of image concerns in economic decision-making. Reviews are also welcome.
The primary aim of this Research Topic is to shed light on the multifaceted nature of image concerns in economic decision-making. We aim to cover a wide range of different questions including, but not limited to:
• when and to what extent do image concerns matter
• heterogeneity in image concerns
• interplay of self- and social image and of different types of image concerns
• interplay of image concerns and other social constructs, such as social norms and social identities
• new ways of measuring image concerns, especially in the field
• welfare consequences of image concerns and implications for policy makers.
We invite contributions that advance the knowledge on image concerns in experimental and behavioral economics. We welcome empirical, theoretical, experimental, and interdisciplinary studies. Manuscripts should aim to provide novel insights and advance our understanding of image concerns in economic decision-making. Reviews are also welcome.
Keywords: self- and social image, reputation, social influence, norms and identity, conformity, social comparison
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
