Abstract

In social and economic interactions, people often decide differently for others, as against for themselves, under situations involving risks. This sometimes leads to conflicts or contradictions. Although previous studies have explored such contradictions, the findings have been inconsistent. To reconcile these inconsistencies, this paper investigates the role played by the different domains and probabilities in the self-other differences under risk. Two groups of participants completed a gambling task combining different domains (gain vs. loss) and probabilities (small vs. large). One group made decisions for others and the other group made decisions for themselves. The results revealed a four pattern of discrepancy: the ones who made decisions for others were less risk-seeking than those who made decisions for themselves over the small probability gains. This was reversed over the large probability gains. Conversely, the participants who made decisions for others were more risk-seeking than those who made decisions for themselves over the small probability losses. The results were reversed over the large probability losses. These results reconcile the contradictory findings of the previous studies and suggest the significant role played by contextual factors in such discrepancies.

摘要

在社会和经济互动中，在涉及风险的情况下，人们通常会为他人做出不同的决定，而不是为自己做出不同的决定。有时这会导致冲突或矛盾。尽管以前的研究已经探索了这样的矛盾，但是发现并不一致。为了调和这些不一致之处，本文研究了不同领域和概率在风险下的自我－其他差异中所起的作用。两组参与者完成了一个赌博任务，将不同的领域（收益与损失）和概率（小与大）结合在一起。一组为其他人做决定，另一组为自己做决定。结果显示出四种差异模式：与那些为自己做决定的人相比，那些为自己做决定的人更少地寻求风险。这在大概率收益上得到了扭转。相反，为他人做出决策的参与者比那些为自己的小概率损失做出决策的参与者更倾向于冒险。结果在大概率损失上被逆转。这些结果调和了先前研究的矛盾发现，并暗示了背景因素在这种差异中所起的重要作用。