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Does Unfairness Hurt Women? The Effects of Losing Unfair Competitions

Piasenti, Stefano ; Valente, Marica ; van Veldhuizen, Roel LU orcid and Pfeifer, Gregor (2026) In Economic Journal
Abstract
We study gender differences in the response to losing competitions using an online experiment (N=2,086). We find that both genders reduce tournament entry rates in response to losses that are unequivocally meritocratic. However, when the winner is not necessarily determined by merit—a setting perceived as less fair than the meritocratic tournament—female losers are relatively more discouraged. These results suggest that women are more negatively affected by competitions perceived as unfair than men. Exploratory machine learning analysis indicates that risk preferences, age and sports participation in adolescence are associated with a reduced impact of losing competitions.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
C14, C90, D91, J16
in
Economic Journal
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
ISSN
1468-0297
DOI
10.1093/ej/ueag066
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
da4968a6-0d21-4240-9241-3410f7f29b0d
date added to LUP
2026-06-25 09:14:11
date last changed
2026-06-25 11:55:05
@article{da4968a6-0d21-4240-9241-3410f7f29b0d,
  abstract     = {{We study gender differences in the response to losing competitions using an online experiment (N=2,086). We find that both genders reduce tournament entry rates in response to losses that are unequivocally meritocratic. However, when the winner is not necessarily determined by merit—a setting perceived as less fair than the meritocratic tournament—female losers are relatively more discouraged. These results suggest that women are more negatively affected by competitions perceived as unfair than men. Exploratory machine learning analysis indicates that risk preferences, age and sports participation in adolescence are associated with a reduced impact of losing competitions.}},
  author       = {{Piasenti, Stefano and Valente, Marica and van Veldhuizen, Roel and Pfeifer, Gregor}},
  issn         = {{1468-0297}},
  keywords     = {{C14; C90; D91; J16}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Economic Journal}},
  title        = {{Does Unfairness Hurt Women? The Effects of Losing Unfair Competitions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueag066}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ej/ueag066}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}