Peer effects of ambition

Ambition as the desire for personal achievement is an important driver of behavior. Using a laboratory experiment, we study the role of peer influence on ambition in two distinct domains—performance goals and task complexity. In one domain, participants set themselves a performance goal in a real-effort task where reaching the goal is associated with a higher payoff. In the other domain, they choose the complexity of the task that is positively associated with the piece-rate compensation and effort required. We find evidence of peer effects on performance goals. In particular, information about peer goals leads to average adjustments of own goals in the direction of peer goals. In contrast, the data do not reveal peer effects on the choice of task complexity, which is due to subjects rarely following peers who chose an easier task. Our findings suggest that the strength of peer effects of ambition is domain dependent.