Social mindfulness in the real world: the physical presence of others induces other-regarding motivation

Two studies show that being socially mindful only requires a minimal social context: The presence of a specific other is enough to bring out greater social mindfulness in a one-shot social decision-making task that focuses participants’ decisions on leaving or limiting other people’s choice. Study 1 contrasts a control condition (with no second chooser) with two conditions in which a confederate chooses after the participant. We find that participants are socially mindful by leaving choice to the confederate more often. Study 2 reveals that a specified, identifiable other is left choice more often than an unspecified next chooser. The physical presence of others may thus be enough to elicit greater social mindfulness as manifested in simple and low-cost social decision-making.