“Voice-Pitch Bias in Political and Economic Environments”
by Özgür Kıbrıs
Sabancı University
Place: MA-330
Abstract
We present two studies that respectively analyze the implications of voice pitch in political and economic decisions. In the first study, we use an online experiment to analyze the relative effect on voter behavior of a candidate’s voice pitch and policy stance. We demonstrate a strong voice-pitch bias: between candidates who are identical in every other aspect, voters are more likely to choose the one with the lower voice-pitch, and more so in elections between men than women candidates. We then introduce a novel phenomenon: persistence of voice-pitch bias is the amount of policy difference needed to compensate for voice-pitch bias. While persistence is also gender-dependent, the effect is now reversed: voice-pitch bias is more persistent in elections between women than men candidates. As a possible mechanism, we show that voters perceive candidates with lower voice-pitch as more competent and trustworthy. The second study is an > ongoing project where we aim to experimentally analyze whether employers’ evaluation of current or potential employees is subject to a voice-pitch bias. If this is the case, we aim to measure the premium an employee receives/foregoes in response to a unit change in her voice pitch, the so-called voice-pitch premium. We present the design of our experiment as well as some preliminary findings from its first stage.
Bio
Professor Kıbrıs received a BS in industrial engineering in 1992 and an MA in economics in 1995 from Bilkent university. He received his PhD in economics in 2000 from University of Rochester.
Professor Kıbrıs joined Sabancı University in 2001 as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor in 2009 and a full professor in 2015. Outside Sabancı University, Professor Kıbrıs also worked at Universite Catholique de Louvain (2000-2001), University of Rochester (2006-2007), and Duke University (2011-2012). At Sabancı University, he previously served as the dean (2017-2020) and the vice-dean (2016-2017) of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Professor Kıbrıs’ research and teaching activities focus on behavioral economics, decision theory, political economy, game theory, and economic design. The Turkish Academy of Sciences has awarded his research with an Incentive Award in 2003 and a GEBIP Award in 2006. His teaching activities on these fields were awarded by Sabancı University with a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Teaching Award in 2010. He is a fellow of the Murat Sertel Center for Advanced Economic Studies.
