Social Preferences
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28
CORE DEFINITION
Social preferences, also known as distributional preferences, describe the human tendency to not only care about one's own material payoff, but also the reference group's payoff or/and the intention that leads to the payoff. Social preferences are studied extensively in behavioral and experimental economics and social psychology. Types of social preferences include altruism, fairness, reciprocity, and competition.
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Social preferences, also known as distributional preferences, describe the human tendency to not only care about one's own material payoff, but also the reference group's payoff or/and the intention that leads to the payoff.
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The standard economic man assumption posits that individuals maximize only their self-interest; social preferences indicate that people are also driven by the welfare of others, fairness, and reciprocity (altruism, fairness, reciprocity, competition). These preferences alter game outcomes, causing cooperation and punishment to deviate from purely self-interested predictions.
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_preferencesverified
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