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Published March 2021 | Supplemental Material + Submitted
Journal Article Open

Computational and motivational mechanisms of human social decision making involving close others

Abstract

Every day, human beings make decisions with social consequences. These social consequences matter most when they impact those closest to us. Recent research has shown that humans exhibit reliable preferences when deciding between conflicting outcomes involving close others – for example, prioritizing the interests of one's family member over one's friend. However, virtually nothing is known about the mechanisms that drive these preferences. We conducted a pre-registered study in a large (maximum N = 375) sample to quantify the computational and motivational mechanisms of human social decision-making preferences involving close others. By pairing assessment techniques from behavioral economics and psychological science with computational modeling and random coefficient regression, we show that value-based cognitive computations (e.g., risk and loss aversion) drive social decision-making preferences involving financial outcomes, whereas socioemotional motivations (e.g., relationship quality) underlie preferences involving social outcomes. These results imply mechanistic heterogeneity, underscoring a need for greater attention to contextual specificity in social decision-making.

Additional Information

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. Received 11 June 2020, Revised 12 November 2020, Accepted 19 November 2020, Available online 7 January 2021. Preparation of the manuscript was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (Fellow ID: 2016220797) and NIH T32 Pre-Doctoral Fellowship (5T32HD091059) to João F. Guassi Moreira. Gratitude is extended towards Maria Calderon, Liz Gaines, Casandra Gomez Alvarado, Agatha Handojo, Aviva Hirsch, Sakina Qadir, Eleni Rally, Salma Sudarmadji, Yael Waizman, and Tarran Walter for their assistance in data collection and QA. Author contributions: J. F. Guassi Moreira and J. A. Silvers developed the study concept with input from S. M. Tashjian. J. F. Guassi Moreira, and J. A. Silvers designed the study. Data were collected by J. F. Guassi Moreira. Data were prepared and analyzed by J. F. Guassi Moreira under the supervision of J. A. Silvers. All authors interpreted the results. J. F. Guassi Moreira drafted the first version of the manuscript with extensive input from J. A. Silvers. S. M. Tashjian, A. Galván, and J. A. Silvers all provided critical revisions. All the authors approved the final manuscript for submission. Open practices: All data and materials for this study, in addition to its pre-registration, can be accessed at the Open Science Framework (osf.io/d42ar).

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Supplemental Material - 1-s2.0-S0022103120304261-mmc1.docx

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Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023