The Role of Attention in Social Decision-Making: An Eye-Tracking Study in a Repeated Dictator Game

For more than a century, predicting human decisions has been a key topic of interest in psychology, economics, and, recently, neurosciences. Attention is a fundamental cognitive process that is essential for effective decision-making, but how does attention affect decision-making? The present eye-tracking study (N=42) explores the association between social decision-making and process data, including response time and pupil dilation in a repeated dictator game. By measuring participants’ visual attention during the task, we can gain insights into how attentional processes relate to individuals’ choice behavior and resource allocation. We found that participants tend to allocate more attention to their self-option than other options, regardless of the context. Additionally, they exhibited an even greater level of attention to the self-option for chosen items compared to unchosen items. Furthermore, we examined the Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Systems (BIS/BAS) as a predictor of process data. Our analysis revealed significant correlations between BIS/BAS scores, pupil size, and response time.Taken together, these results suggest that the information obtained from response time and eye movement measures can offer a more comprehensive perspective on individuals’ decision-making processes and preferences.