Experiments on emotions, matching, and decision-making

This Doctoral thesis includes three articles. In Heterogeneity of Incentive Effects on Elicited Guilt Aversion, I study guilt intended as the feeling that arises when we think we disappoint others' expectations. I investigate how the anticipated cost of guilt is traded-off with financial incentives in the investment game. I also explore the characteristics of guilt averse participants with respect to personality traits. In Matching and Confidence, I study how matching affects confidence. In collaboration with Friederike Mengel (University of Essex and Lund University) and Mehmet Yigit Gurdal (Bogazici University), we use an experiment that allows us to identify the effect of being matched with others of either similar or dissimilar performance (assortative or disassortative matching) on people's confidence in their own ability. In Incidental Affects, Belief Management, and Decision-Making, I use a lab experiment to study how incidental affects - immediate emotions unrelated to the judgement at hand - influence decisions and beliefs in two classical choice situations: a dictator game and an effort task.