What Can we Learn About Human Nature from Interacting with Strangers? Relationship Type Determines Behavior in the...

Area of Science:

• Behavioral economics
• Social psychology
• Decision-making research

Background:

• Behavioral decision-making research frequently assumes anonymous strangers reveal fundamental human nature.
• Existing literature across psychology and ethology suggests strangers are not a "baseline partner" for studying behavior.
• Overreliance on stranger interactions in economic games may limit understanding of nuanced human behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To challenge the assumption that strangers represent a baseline for human behavior.
• To propose and test a typology of basic human relationship types influencing decision-making.
• To provide a framework for interpreting economic game outcomes based on relationship context.

Main Methods:

• Conducted two large-scale experiments (N=848 and N=2400) using a hypothetical dictator game.
• Participants interacted with one of sixteen distinct partner types representing various relationships (e.g., mother, friend, stranger).
• Analyzed behavioral responses to identify clusters and typologies of relationship partners.

Main Results:

• Identified distinct clusters of interaction partners, forming intuitively meaningful relationship types (loved ones, intimate partners, companions, contractual partners, infrahumanized others).
• These relationship typologies predicted behavioral differences in the dictator game, even when controlling for relationship distance.
• Demonstrated that relationship type is a critical factor in behavioral decision-making.

Conclusions:

• Human behavior in economic games is significantly shaped by the type of relationship with the interaction partner.
• A typology of basic human relationships offers a more nuanced framework than relying solely on stranger interactions.
• Findings necessitate recalibrating interpretations of past research using stranger partners and provide context for future studies.