Abstract
Strategic decisions are affected by beliefs about the expectations of others and their possible decisions. Thus, strategic decisions are influenced by the social context and by beliefs about other actors’ levels of sophistication. The present study investigated whether strategic decision-making, as measured by the beauty contest game, is associated with social skills, as measured by the Autism Quotient (AQ). In line with our hypothesis, we found that social skills were positively related to successful strategic decision-making. Furthermore, results showed a curvilinear relationship between steps of reasoning in the beauty contest game and social skills, indicating that very high as well as very low scoring individuals on the social skills subscale of the AQ engaged in high-levels of strategic thinking.
Highlights
In many decisions in social contexts, the outcome of a choice option is dependent on the option chosen by the other actors
In line with our hypothesis, we found that the social skills subscale of the Autism Quotient (AQ) predicted strategic IQ, b = 5.23, t (185) = 1.91, p = 0.057
Calculating the strategic IQ (Coricelli and Nagel [18]), a measure based on the absolute distance between the number chosen and the target number, we found that social skills were positively associated with successful performance in the beauty contest game
Summary
In many decisions in social contexts, the outcome of a choice option is dependent on the option chosen by the other actors. In this case, the preferred option is not solely based on the actor’s preferences and on the others’ preferences and the others’ resulting choice. The preferred option is not solely based on the actor’s preferences and on the others’ preferences and the others’ resulting choice The present paper argues that the level of sophistication reflected in strategic decision-making is affected by the ability to put oneself into the mind of the other, which is key for successful social interaction (Rose-Krasnor [4]). Social skills entail a diverse array of skills that facilitate interaction and communication with others and are linked with the ability to make inferences about mental states of others (Baron-Cohen et al [5])
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