Program & Abstract Book - EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009

EPFL Latsis Symposium 2009: Understanding Violence
P-13
Decision-ma k i n g in ec o n o m i c ga m e s
is re l a t e D t o so c i a l be h a v i o r in
aD o l e s c e n c e
Poster Abstracts
d’Acremont, Mathieu 1 ; Bossaerts, Peter 1 ; Van der Linden,
Martial 2
1 Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland;
2 University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Economic games have been developed to study social interactions in an
experimental setting. In these games, individuals have the possibility to
exchange goods and their decisions are taken as indicator of their social
preferences like altruism or equity. Past researches with economic games
have mainly highlighted gender and age differences. However, it is unknown
if decisions in economic games are related to social behavior in
a natural setting. This absence of ecological validity has exposed game
theory to serious criticism. The aim of this study was to test whether decisions
in economic games were related to social behavior in adolescence,
an age period when antisocial behavior is more frequent. Adolescents (44
boys, 49 girls, 11-15 years old) completed economic games with their
peers. Adolescents’ behavior in classroom was assessed by their teachers.
Results showed that teenagers with a higher score of antisocial behavior
shared less of their points when the opponent had no way to react (dictator
game), but not when the opponent could refuse the offer (ultimatum
game) or could send back part of the offer (trust game). Teenagers with a
high score of social anxiety accepted lower offers (ultimatum game). Hyperactivity
was not related to decision-making in these games. It can be
concluded that decision-making in economic games is specifically related
to social behavior in adolescence and that economic games have an ecological
validity.
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