Junior Management Science, Volume 4, Issue 1, March 2019, 101-122<\/p>\n
Christiane Czech, Karlsruher Institut f\u00fcr Technologie (Bachelorarbeit)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> Abstract Keywords:\u00a0strategic ignorance; moral wiggle room; dictator games; self-serving behavior<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>
\n<\/strong>The issue of avoiding information about the consequences of one\u2019s own actions is discussed intensively. Acting that way, makes it harder to be judged for one\u2019s decisions. My bachelor thesis deals with strategic ignorance and self-serving behaviour. This paper aims to explore if people really avoid information to a high degree and whether there are certain situations or circumstances which influence these behaviour patterns. Four different experimental studies were used and compared to a large amount of literature. It is found that intransparency in situations allows for a moral \u201cwiggle room\u201d which makes people\u2019s actions more egoistic. Also, people like to be seen as altruistic. By analyzing the Bayesian signaling model which introduces an agent caring about his self-image, his economic advantages and who has the opportunity to find out about social benefits and the cost of acting social, the findings show that willful ignorance can be an excuse for selfish behaviour and helps maintain the idea that they act up to their ideals. Looking at situations where people have to bring an effort, ignorance shows bette outcomes because people work harder when they don\u2019t know about the negative consequences.<\/p>\n<\/div>