| Abstract: |
This paper addresses the nature, formalization, and neural bases of
(affective) social ties and discusses the relevance of ties for health
economics. A social tie is defined as an affective weight attached by an
individual to the well-being of another individual (‘utility
interdependence’). Ties can be positive or negative, and symmetric or
asymmetric between individuals. Characteristic of a social tie, as conceived
of here, is that it develops over time under the influence of interaction, in
contrast with a trait like altruism. Moreover, a tie is not related to
strategic behavior such as reputation formation but seen as generated by
affective responses. A formalization is presented together with some
supportive evidence from behavioral experiments. This is followed by a
discussion of related psychological constructs and the presentation of
suggestive neural findings, based on the existing literature. We conclude with
some suggestions for future research. |