Prosocial emotions predict individual differences in economic decision-making during ultimatum game with dynamic reciprocal contexts

Abstract

Abstract Social decision-making is known to be influenced by predictive emotions or the perceived reciprocity of partners. However, the connection between emotion, decision-making, and contextual reciprocity remains less understood. Moreover, arguments suggest that emotional experiences within a social context can be better conceptualised as prosocial rather than basic emotions, necessitating the inclusion of two social dimensions: focus, the degree of an emotion's relevance to oneself or others, and dominance, the degree to which one feels in control of an emotion. For better representation, these dimensions should be considered alongside the interoceptive dimensions of valence and arousal. In an ultimatum game involving fair, moderate, and unfair offers, this online study measured the emotions of 476 participants using a multidimensional affective rating scale. Using unsupervised classification algorithms, we identified individual differences in decisions and emotional experiences. Certain individuals exhibited consistent levels of acceptance behaviours and emotions, while reciprocal individuals' acceptance behaviours and emotions followed external reward value structures. Furthermore, individuals with distinct emotional responses to partners exhibited unique economic responses to their emotions, with only the reciprocal group exhibiting sensitivity to dominance prediction errors. The study illustrates a context-specific model capable of subtyping populations engaged in social interaction and exhibiting heterogeneous mental states.

Keywords

• Prosocial emotions
• Reciprocity
• Social decision-making
• Personality
• Individual differences
• Social interaction