| Abstract: |
We explore the behavioural and affective differences between subjects
practicing sport activities and subjects not practicing sport. Are athletes
more distressed by unfavourable social comparisons and more prone to engage in
hostile behaviour than non-athletes? Using experimental methods, we
investigate the connection between sport practice and antisocial behaviour. In
our experiment we capture the satisfaction subjects derive from unflattering
social comparisons by asking them to evaluate their satisfaction after being
informed of their own endowment and after being informed of their opponent’s
endowment. Then subjects can decide to reduce their opponent’s endowment by
incurring a cost. We observe that sport plays a key role on both individual
well-being and behaviour: 1) sport practice amplifies the negative impact of
unfavourable social comparisons on individual well-being and 2) sport practice
exerts subjects to reduce others’ income. Besides the satisfaction sporty
subjects report from social comparisons predicts their decisions to reduce
others’ income. Finally we provide empirical evidences suggesting that envy
affects significantly athletes’ satisfaction and behaviour. |