Dissonance in other-regarding preferences: preference changes and the act of choice

This thesis examines whether other-regarding choices feed back into and modify other-regarding preferences. Chen and Risen’s (2010) adaptation of the free-choice paradigm is used to identify preference changes specifically induced by the act of choice. People are presented choice between two monetary distributions between themselves and someone else; varying the timing of this decision between treatments controls for the information revealed by choice. Other-regarding preferences are conceptualized in terms of social value orientations (SVOs), being established using the SVO Slider Measure of Murphy, Ackermann, and Handgraaf (2011). Choice-induced preference changes seem to be present in other-regarding preferences, with individuals who face the difficult decision before the second elicitation of preferences being more likely to adjust their preferences than those who do so afterwards. Dissonance reduction appears to manifest differently than is commonly hypothesized for self-regarding preferences. In particular, individuals do not necessarily adjust their preferences consistent with their choice. Self-affirmation theory (Steele, 1988) best describes the findings, with decisions potentially threatening one’s self-concept. Choices modify other-regarding preferences, although the psychological processes responsible for these preference changes remain to be explored.