ABSTRACT
While self-interest is a strong motivator for individual behavior, it alone cannot explain the generosity evidenced across a variety of settings. This chapter therefore explores nonstandard preferences that, in contrast to purely self-interested preferences, take into account the payoffs, actions, or beliefs of others in society besides the self. Such social preferences can explain a multitude of otherwise anomalous behaviors. The topics in this chapter are ordered to approximately align with the chronology of economic thinking on social preferences since the 1970s: altruism, warm-glow giving (or impure altruism), distributional preferences (e.g., differential altruism, inequality aversion), reciprocity, social image concerns, social pressure, self-image, and social norms. The social preference models are evaluated with evidence from the lab and field, and include applications to charitable giving, tipping, gift exchange, labor markets, education, conspicuous consumption, the media, and the family.
