van Dolder Dennie, Buskens Vincent
Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Sociology/ICS, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2014 Apr 14;9(4):e92276. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092276. eCollection 2014.
Game-theoretic models of network formation typically assume that people create relations so as to maximize their own outcome in the network. Recent experiments on network formation suggest that the assumption of self-interest might be unwarranted and that social preferences, such as altruism and inequality aversion, play a role in the formation of social networks. We developed an experiment to systematically investigate whether people show preferences for outcomes of others during network formation. We find that such preferences play a role when network decisions degenerate to simple two-person decision tasks. In more complex environments, however, we find little evidence for social preferences as a significant decision criterion. Furthermore, we find some evidence for farsighted behavior in network formation.
网络形成的博弈论模型通常假定，人们建立关系是为了在网络中最大化自身的结果。近期有关网络形成的实验表明，自利假设可能并不合理，利他主义和不平等厌恶等社会偏好会在社会网络形成过程中发挥作用。我们开展了一项实验，以系统研究人们在网络形成过程中是否对他人的结果表现出偏好。我们发现，当网络决策退化为简单的两人决策任务时，此类偏好会发挥作用。然而，在更复杂的环境中，我们几乎没有发现社会偏好作为重要决策标准的证据。此外，我们发现了一些网络形成过程中存在远见行为的证据。
