The Relationship Between Mental Effort and Social Value Orientation in Resource Allocation Problems

Resource allocation tasks are a central focus of game theory, where a player must allocate a limited set of resources among himself and others. Resource allocation tasks in game theory provide a framework for analyzing strategic decision-making in various economic, political, and social contexts. The Social Value Orientation (SVO) index is a concept used in social psychology to describe the degree to which individuals prioritize their interests over the interests of others in social dilemmas. In resource allocation tasks, the SVO may be used as an indicator to evaluate player’s behavior. In this study, an experimental set-up was built to examine the relationship between the player’s SVO index and his mental effort, which is measured by evaluating the Theta to Alpha ratio based on an EEG measurement. The results show a significant linear relationship between the player’s SVO value and its mental effort. That is, the smaller the SVO value (a more competitive player), the greater the mental effort he invests in the resource allocation task.