Centre for Development Economics
Department of Economics
Delhi School of Economics
ANNOUNCE A SEMINAR
The Role of Interpersonal Uncertainty in Prosocial Behavior
by
Anujit Chakraborty
(UC Davis)
(UC Davis)
with
Luca Henkel
(Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at 1:30 PM)
Venue: Amex
Abstract:-
In prosocial decisions, decision-makers face interpersonal uncertainty: uncertainty about how their choices affect others’ utility. We study how this uncertainty shapes behavior jointly with social preferences. We propose a two-part mechanism: individuals are averse to interpersonal uncertainty, and they perceive different levels of uncertainty for different people. We experimentally test this mechanism in three ways: by exogenously varying interpersonal uncertainty, by eliciting perceived uncertainty directly, and by comparing standard allocation decisions with decisions that remove social consequences while preserving uncertainty. We find that interpersonal uncertainty is measurable, quantitatively important, and predicts choices across individuals, decisions, and social interventions.