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Moniker Maladies: When Names Sabotage Success

Leif D. Nelson
University of California, San Diego - Rady School of Management

Joseph P. Simmons
Yale School of Management


March 17, 2007


Abstract:     
People like their names enough to unconsciously approach consciously-avoided name-resembling outcomes. Baseball players avoid strikeouts, but players with strikeout-signifying K-initials strike out more than others (Study 1). All students want A's, but C- and D-initialed students find initial-resembling outcomes less aversive and achieve lower GPAs (Study 2), particularly if they like their initials (Study 3). Because lower GPAs lead to lesser graduate schools, C- and D-initialed students go to lower ranked law schools than their A- and B-initialed counterparts (Study 4). Finally, in an experimental design, participants perform worse when a consolation prize shares their first initial (Study 5). These findings provide striking evidence that unconscious wants can insidiously undermine conscious pursuits.

Keywords: unconscious attitudes, implicit attitudes

Working Paper Series

Date posted: November 22, 2006 ; Last revised: June 21, 2007

Suggested Citation

Nelson, Leif D. and Simmons, Joseph P., Moniker Maladies: When Names Sabotage Success (March 17, 2007). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=946249


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Contact Information

Leif D. Nelson (Contact Author)
University of California, San Diego - Rady School of Management ( email )
9500 Gilman Drive
Rady School of Management
La Jolla, CA 92093
United States
Joseph P. Simmons
Yale School of Management ( email )
135 Prospect Street
P.O. Box 208200
New Haven, CT 06520
United States
HOME PAGE: http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/profiles/simmons.shtml
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