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Updated: May 22, 2026
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The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
The development of social value orientation across different contexts.
Jing Li1, Liqi Zhu, Michaela Gummerum
1Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Summary
Younger children
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Social value orientation (SVO) influences decision-making.
- Understanding SVO development in children is crucial for social behavior research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how age and context affect Chinese children's social value orientation.
- To determine the age at which SVO becomes stable.
Main Methods:
- Utilized revised decomposed games to measure SVO in 9-, 11-, and 14-year-old children and college students.
- Compared SVO in hypothetical ('equal payment') and real ('real payment') contexts.
Main Results:
- 9- and 11-year-olds exhibited context-dependent SVO, showing more prosocial choices in hypothetical scenarios and competitive choices in real-payment scenarios.
- 14-year-olds and adults displayed consistent SVO across both contexts.
- Behavioral choices aligned with SVO by age 14.
Conclusions:
- Social value orientation solidifies by age 14, influencing behavior consistently across different contexts.
- Contextual factors significantly impact SVO expression in younger children.
- Findings offer insights into the developmental trajectory of prosocial and competitive behaviors.
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