%0 Report %A Falk, Armin %T Status Inequality, Moral Disengagement and Violence %D 2017 %8 2017 Jul %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) %C Bonn %7 IZA Discussion Paper %N 10921 %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp10921 %X This paper studies the causal effect of status differences on moral disengagement and violence. To measure violent behavior, in the experiment, a subject can inflict a painful electric shock on another subject in return for money. We exogenously vary relative status in the realm of sexual attractiveness. In three between-subject conditions, the assigned other subject is either of higher, lower or equal status. The incidence of electric shocks is substantially higher among subjects matched with higher- and lower-status others, relative to subjects matched with equal-status others. This causal evidence on the role of status inequality on violence suggests an important societal cost of economic and social inequalities. %K morality %K violence %K status %K inequality %K laboratory experiments