The perceived quality of social relationships influences economic decision making under uncertainty, a new study shows. The mechanisms underlying this influence have been examined in an experiment, in which 140 participants took part, Dr. Gesa-Kristina Petersen et al. report (in Abstracts of the 55th Conference of Experimental Psychologists, 2013).
The influence of social relationships was explored regarding two aspects: The relationship intensity (prior cooperative experience versus anonymous) and the type of relational model (Market pricing versus communal sharing framing). As hypothesized and contradictory to standard economic theory, relationship intensity significantly increased solidarity in a Dyadic Solidarity Game.
Furthermore, relationship intensity moderated the effect of relational model framing on solidarity. Additionally, psychological mechanisms based on three relational goals (affiliation, maintaining a positive self-concept, and accuracy) were assessed: Trust, commitment, and relationship norms were investigated as underlying mechanisms. While trust and commitment partially mediated the impact of relationship intensity on solidarity, communal sharing norms (but not market pricing norms) partially mediated the effect of relational model framing on solidarity under anonymous social relationships.
Individual perceptions of trust, commitment, and relationship norms appear to be meaningful psychological variables that further our understanding of individuals´ utility functions in interpersonal settings of economic decision making, Gesa-Kristina Petersen, Katharina Kugler, Julia Reif, and Felix Brodbeck report in:
U. Ansorge, E. Kirchler, C. Lamm, H. Leder (Eds.): TeaP 2013 - Abstracts of the 55th Conference of Experimental Psychologists. Pabst, 472 pages, ISBN 978-3-89967-852-9
