scholarly journals The self as a prior for the other: social learning under paranoia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M Barnby ◽  
Nichola Raihani ◽  
Peter Dayan
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Inference ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Social Value ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Value Orientation ◽  
Inference Process ◽  
Social Partners

To benefit from social interactions, people need to predict how their social partners will behave. Such predictions arise through integrating prior expectations with evidence from observations, but where the priors come from and whether they influence the integration is not clear. Furthermore, this process can be affected by factors such as paranoia, in which the tendency to form biased impressions of others is common. Using a modified social value orientation (SVO) task in a large online sample (n=697), we showed that participants used a Bayesian inference process to learn about partners, with priors that were based on their own preferences. Paranoia was associated with preferences for earning more than a partner and less flexible beliefs regarding a partner’s social preferences. Alignment between the preferences of participants and their partners was associated with better predictions and with reduced attributions of harmful intent to partners.

scholarly journals Bribery and the Role and Social Value Orientation: A Multi-Site Experimental Study in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lode De Waele ◽  
Kristina S. Weißmüller ◽  
Arjen van Witteloostuijn
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Social Value ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Value Orientation ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Survey Measure

Bribery is a complex phenomenon rooted in both individual motives and the greater institutional context. Experimental research into causal mechanisms that drive bribing behavior is still scarce. To date, there is no empirical evidence on how the society-regarding motivational survey measure of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and the other-oriented motivational measure of Social Value Orientation (SVO) can help explain why some people are more susceptible to engage in the act of bribing than others. Based on a multi-site triple-replication, and a vignette-based research design, quasi-experimental evidence from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands shows that both measures interact and that—paradoxically—people with higher SVO are more likely to be willing to engage in bribery.

Activity in the Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala Underlies Individual Differences in Prosocial and Individualistic Economic Choices

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1861-1870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiko Haruno ◽  
Minoru Kimura ◽  
Christopher D. Frith
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Behavioral Pattern ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Value Orientation ◽  
Correlated Activity ◽  
Amygdala Activity

Much decision-making requires balancing benefits to the self with benefits to the group. There are marked individual differences in this balance such that individualists tend to favor themselves whereas prosocials tend to favor the group. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this difference has important implications for society and its institutions. Using behavioral and fMRI data collected during the performance of the ultimatum game, we show that individual differences in social preferences for resource allocation, so-called “social value orientation,” is linked with activity in the nucleus accumbens and amygdala elicited by inequity, rather than activity in insula, ACC, and dorsolateral pFC. Importantly, the presence of cognitive load made prosocials behave more prosocially and individualists more individualistically, suggesting that social value orientation is driven more by intuition than reflection. In parallel, activity in the nucleus accumbens and amygdala, in response to inequity, tracked this behavioral pattern of prosocials and individualists. In addition, we conducted an impunity game experiment with different participants where they could not punish unfair behavior and found that the inequity-correlated activity seen in prosocials during the ultimatum game disappeared. This result suggests that the accumbens and amygdala activity of prosocials encodes “outcome-oriented emotion” designed to change situations (i.e., achieve equity or punish). Together, our results suggest a pivotal contribution of the nucleus accumbens and amygdala to individual differences in sociality.

scholarly journals Happiness, Generativity and Social Preferences in a Developing Country: A Possibility of Future Design

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa E. Shahen ◽  
Shibly Shahrier ◽  
Koji Kotani
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Sociodemographic Factors ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Value Orientation ◽  
Subjective Happiness ◽  
Future Design

Happiness, generativity and social preferences are pivotal factors for the betterment and sustainability of societies. However, little is known about the relationships among happiness, generativity and social preferences, along with sociodemographic factors, within a single analytical framework. We hypothesize that generativity and social preferences are the determinants of happiness, posing a research question “Are people happier by being prosocial and/or generative for sustainability?” We conduct a survey experiment, collecting data from five subjective happiness scales, generativity, social value orientation and sociodemographic variables in one urban area (Dhaka) and two rural areas (Bogra and Gaibandha) in Bangladesh. With the data, we empirically characterize determinants of subjective happiness with a focus on generativity and social value orientation, controlling for sociodemographic factors. The statistical analysis consistently shows a positive association between subjective happiness and generativity, irrespective of the type of happiness scale, while social value orientation does not exhibit any significance. Rural residents have lower peer relative happiness than urban residents, and household income has a positive relationship with general subjective happiness, leading each of these factors to be significant in overall subjective happiness. In summary, generativity, income and residence area are main determinants of happiness, implying that further urbanization, which is expected to occur in the future, will positively affect people’s happiness if it can bring about an increase in generativity. These results also suggest a possibility that people are happier by being more generative for sustainability, and some new institutional framework such as future design shall be recommended to enhance generativity.

Theories and Measurement Methods of Social Value Orientation Related to Decision Making

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen ZHANG ◽  
Fan ZHANG ◽  
Liang HUANG ◽  
Bo YUAN ◽  
Yiwen WANG
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Measurement Methods ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Value Orientation

scholarly journals Social Value Orientation Modulates Fairness Processing During Social Decision-Making: Evidence From Behavior and Brain Potentials

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinmu Hu ◽  
Xiaoqin Mai
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Value Orientation ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Value Orientation ◽  
Social Decision ◽  
Frontal Negativity ◽  
Social Decision Making

Abstract Social value orientation (SVO) characterizes stable individual differences by an inherent sense of fairness in outcome allocations. Using the event-related potential (ERP), this study investigated differences in fairness decision-making behavior and neural bases between individuals with prosocial and proself orientations using the Ultimatum Game (UG). Behavioral results indicated that prosocials were more prone to rejecting unfair offers with stronger negative emotional reactions compared with proselfs. ERP results revealed that prosocials showed a larger P2 when receiving fair offers than unfair ones in a very early processing stage, whereas such effect was absent in proselfs. In later processing stages, although both groups were sensitive to fairness as reflected by an enhanced medial frontal negativity (MFN) for unfair offers and a larger P3 for fair offers, prosocials exhibited a stronger fairness effect on these ERP components relative to proselfs. Furthermore, the fairness effect on the MFN mediated the SVO effect on rejecting unfair offers. Findings regarding emotional experiences, behavioral patterns, and ERPs provide compelling evidence that SVO modulates fairness processing in social decision-making, whereas differences in neural responses to unfair vs. fair offers as evidenced by the MFN appear to play important roles in the SVO effect on behavioral responses to unfairness.

The influence of concealing academic achievement on the self-esteem of adolescents with low achievement

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 805-810
Author(s):  
Baoshan Zhang ◽  
Jun-Yan Zhao ◽  
Guoliang Yu
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Low Achievers ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Positive Performance

An examination was carried out of the influences of concealing academic achievement on self-esteem in an academically relevant social interaction based on the assumption that concealing socially devalued characteristics should influence individuals' self-esteem during social interactions. An interview paradigm called for school-aged adolescents who either were or were not low (academic) achievers to play the role of students who were or were not low achievers while answering academically relevant questions. The data suggest that the performance self-esteem of low achievers who played the role of good students was more positive than that of low achievers who played the role of low achievers. On the other hand, participants who played the role of good students had more positive performance self-esteem than did participants who played the role of low achievers.

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