How Reward Perceptions of Group Membership Affect Biased Social Decision-Making

Abstract

How do individuals’ reward perceptions of their groups affect their biases in social decision-making? This study expanded on prior research by Harris et al. (2020), who demonstrated that after an initial experience with biased evidence, participants form lasting biases towards a choice option they (incorrectly) perceive as more rewarding. The objective of the current research was to examine what happens to such biases when group membership, manipulated to convey different reward perceptions, acts as an additional motivator of decision-making. Participants underwent a group membership manipulation and a bias induction before executing a choice task. Here, most participants again demonstrated initial and persisting biases, with the exception of one experimental group. Their lack of bias was most likely due to unintended effects of the group membership manipulation on the bias induction, affecting participants’ subsequent choice behavior. The findings, although inconclusive, suggest that GM leads to different biased decision-making compared to when participants’ choices are solely motivated by initial experiences with biased evidence. Possible implications include, but are not limited to, informing interventions aimed at reducing biased decision-making in social contexts. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.