Do People Appreciate the Value of Listening to a Variety Of Different Opinions?

Abstract

This paper presents experimental evidence about how individuals learn from information that comes from inside versus outside their ethnic group. In the experiment, Thai subjects observed information that came from Americans and other Thais that they could use to help them answer a series of questions. Consistent with previous research, the subjects display overconfidence in their own opinions and place too low a value on all the information that they observe. Subjects achieve optimality, however, in how they weigh observed American information relative to observed Thai information. The data indicates that subjects understand that outside information has extra value because people from different groups know different things and so have an opportunity to learn from each other. The results demonstrate the importance of forming diverse groups to solve problems.