The giving advice effect: Reducing teacher sorting through self-persuasion

This paper examines how the act of giving advice to others can serve as a tool for self-persuasion in high-stakes decisions. We tested this hypothesis in Perus nationwide teacher selection process, involving over 74,000 candidates. By prompting teachers to advise peers on selecting schools for maximum educational impact, we observe a significant shift in their own choices: an increased probability of choosing and being assigned to hard-to-staff schools, institutions serving disadvantaged areas that are typically understaffed. In line with recent literature on behavioral sciences, our findings demonstrate that advising others can influence ones own consequential decisions. This insight offers a cost-effective approach to mitigating teacher sorting and reducing educational inequality. It also corroborates the validity of the giving advice effect in a high-stakes, real-world context using a large sample.