The Most Influential Age Hypothesis: Does the Self Cause Predictable Preferences?

Abstract

An ongoing debate revolves around the assumption of preference stability. We investigate the hypothesis that certain preferences do indeed remain stable and propose that preferences formed in early adulthood are likely to remain stable because of an increased likelihood of relating to people's identity. We present evidence from three studies showing that experts (Study 1) as well as lay people (Study 2) have very strong preferences for movies they have seen as early adults. In addition we show that (Study3) preferences closely tied to one's identity at early adulthood (e.g., clothes) are more persistent than those less closely tied to one's identity at that age (e.g., cars).

Keywords: Preferences, Identity, Self

JEL Classification: D00, M3, M31