From Childhood to Adulthood: The Influence of Social Preferences and Theory of Mind on Decision-Making in Social Negotiation

Date

2025

Type:

Thesis

item.page.extent

122 p.

item.page.accessRights

Acceso abierto

ORCID:

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Universidad del Desarrollo. Facultad de Gobierno

item.page.isbn

item.page.issn

item.page.issne

item.page.other

item.page.references

Abstract

This thesis examines how social decision-making develops from childhood through adulthood, focusing on fairness, feedback integration, and individual strategies in the Ultimatum Game (UG). Drawing on theories of Theory of Mind (ToM) and executive functions (EFs), the central hypothesis is that social decision-making becomes more stable, cooperative, and fairness-oriented with age. Study 1 systematically reviewed available research regarding the development of ToM, EFs, neurodevelopment and social preferences. Study 2 examined whether social feedback (acceptance vs. rejection) and prior adjustments influenced proposer strategies, with the hypotheses that (a) feedback affects immediate adjustments, (b) reliance on feedback decreases with age, and (c) negotiation strategies consolidate into identifiable behavioral clusters. Findings revealed that feedback prompted short-term adjustments, but these effects did not persist across rounds. Instead, age-related patterns were most evident in baseline offers: children showed greater variability, adolescents leaned toward competitive strategies, and adults prioritized fairness and stability. Results suggest that while social feedback shapes momentary decisions, long-term strategies are guided more by stable individual preferences and developmental changes in ToM and EFs. By integrating fairness norms with age-related differences in stability and cooperation, this thesis contributes to understanding how social negotiation strategies mature over time.

Description

Doctoral thesis submitted to the Facultad de Gobierno of the Universidad del Desarrollo for the degree of Doctor in Social Complexity Sciences

item.page.coverage.spatial

Santiago

item.page.sponsorship

Citation

Keywords

Theory of Mind, Social Preferences, Neurodevelopment, Executive Functions, 060005S

item.page.dc.rights

Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 Chile (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 CL)

item.page.dc.rights.url

Collections