Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/314605 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17708
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In prosocial decisions, decision-makers face interpersonal uncertainty–uncertainty about how their choices impact others' utility. We use three approaches to show how it shapes classic patterns of prosocial behavior like ingroup favoritism, merit-based fairness, and self-favoring behavior. First, we compare standard allocation decisions with decisions where we remove social consequences but retain uncertainty, revealing strikingly similar patterns across both. Second, we exogenously vary interpersonal uncertainty to estimate the aversion to interpersonal uncertainty and quantify how it combines with preferences to determine prosocial decisions. Finally, we show that self-reported interpersonal uncertainty systematic ally predicts behavior across individuals, choice patterns, and behavioral interventions.
Subjects: 
prosocial behavior
decision-making under uncertainty
interpersonal uncertainty
ingroup favoritism
merit-based fairness
self-favoring behavior
JEL: 
C91
D01
D91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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