Self-Other Differences in Decision-Making under Risk: An Interpersonal Perspective

Decisions made for others reflect not only decision-makers' cognitive and emotional states but also decision-makers' interpersonal concerns. People who make choices for others will potentially be blamed for unappealing outcomes by others. Therefore, we hypothesize that individuals will seek sure gains (which increase individuals' responsibility for desirable outcomes) and avoid sure losses (which decrease individuals' responsibility for undesirable outcomes) when making risky decisions for others more than when making such decisions for themselves. The results of two studies show that making decisions for others (vs. oneself) promotes risk-averse choices over gains. This effect may be driven by the perceived responsibility associated with different options. When both options exhibit variance in outcomes, such self-other difference disappears. However, no self-other difference over losses was observed. Taken together, our research highlights interpersonal concerns in making decisions for others, as well as the behavioral consequences of these concerns in decisions under risk.