Abstract
Contrary to predictions from Expected Utility Theory and Game Theory, when making economic decisions in interpersonal situations, people take the interest of others into account and express various forms of solidarity, even in one-shot interactions with anonymous strangers. Research in other-regarding behavior is dominated by behavioral economical and evolutionary biological approaches. Psychological theory building, which addresses mental processes underlying other-regarding behavior, is rare. Based on Relational Models Theory (RMT, [1]) and Relationship Regulation Theory (RRT, [2]) it is proposed that moral motives influence individuals’ decision behavior in interpersonal situations via conscious and unconscious (automatic) processes. To test our propositions we developed the ‘Dyadic Solidarity Game’ and its solitary equivalent, the ‘Self-Insurance Game’. Four experiments, in which the moral motives “Unity” and “Proportionality” were manipulated, support the propositions made. First, it was shown that consciously activated moral motives (via framing of the overall goal of the experiment) and unconsciously activated moral motives (via subliminal priming) influence other-regarding behavior. Second, this influence was only found in interpersonal, not in solitary situations. Third, by combining the analyses of the two experimental games the extent to which participants apply the Golden Rule (“treat others how you wish to be treated”) could be established. Individuals with a “Unity” motive treated others like themselves, whereas individuals with a “Proportionality” motive gave others less then they gave themselves. The four experiments not only support the assumption that morals matter in economic games, they also deliver new insights in how morals matter in economic decision making.
Highlights
In neoclassical economic theories about decision making humans are conceived as self-interested, rational utility maximizers, who behave when making decisions in interpersonal situations
Sharing norms pertaining to Unity motives or a study about Market Pricing norms pertaining to Proportionality motives (Experiment 1), and by (2) subliminally priming cues for Communal Sharing norms pertaining to Unity motives versus Market Pricing norms pertaining to Proportionality motives (Experiment 2)
In the Proportionality condition of both Experiments no significantly higher Amount B as compared to the control condition was given. It appears that the ‘default’ moral motives of participants in economic decision making games are indistinguishable from Proportionality motives
Summary
In neoclassical economic theories about decision making humans are conceived as self-interested, rational utility maximizers, who behave when making decisions in interpersonal situations. The extent to which an actor shows a particular otherregarding behavior (e.g., in the form of solidarity, altruism, pure self-interest, or third party punishment) in an economic decision making game is shaped by the actor’s perception and definition of the situation, which according to RRT and RMT is formed by basically four kinds of relational models (CS, EM, AR, MP) with their respective moral motives (Unity, Equality, Hierarchy, Proportionality) embedded in them. On the basis of these considerations about moral intuition and moral reasoning, we argue, that for situations in which relationship regulation is required, as for example in economic decision games, both types of processes, automatic and conscious, are involved with the activation of particular relational models and respective moral motives, and the expression of appropriate other-regarding behavior. Individuals in a Unity condition show more solidarity behavior by giving a higher Amount B to the other person than individuals in a Proportionality condition
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