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Behavioral Sciences
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Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making
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Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making

A Special Issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X) belonging to the section "Cognition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 November 2026 | Viewed by 6588

Editor

Dr. Ahreum Maeng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Business, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Interests: social influences on attitudes and behavior; social crowding; face perception; social inequality; political ideology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue on “Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making” explores how social cognition addresses the human ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to the intentions, emotions, and beliefs of others, and how this influences complex decision processes. Central to this field are mechanisms such as face perception, empathy, and theory of mind, which enable individuals to understand and predict others’ actions and mental states. The interplay between emotion and reason is highlighted as a key feature of social decision making, with emotional intuitions and motivational biases often competing with rational, high-level executive control processes. Social cognition not only shapes prosocial behaviors, such as fairness and trust, but also contributes to biases, stereotypes, and cultural prejudices that can affect judgments even in the absence of strong emotional responses. Research demonstrates that these social cognitive processes are deeply embedded in neural networks and are modulated by contextual factors, such as cultural norms and narrative framing. This Special Issue emphasizes the importance of understanding these mechanisms to address issues like bias in legal and social contexts and suggests that interventions targeting social cognition may be effective in mitigating unwanted biases and improving decision-making outcomes.

- Abstract Deadline: 15 August 2025
- Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 30 August 2025

Dr. Ahreum Maeng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • marketing
  • consumer behavior
  • social cognition
  • face perception
  • decision-making

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 752 KB  
Article
From Scarcity Cues and Social Proof to FoMO: A Dual-Mediation Model of Urgency in Consumer Decision-Making
by Severina Pal and Borut Milfelner
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(7), 1250; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16071250 - 22 Jul 2026
Viewed by 1012
Abstract
This research examines the psychological mechanisms that drive consumers’ fear of missing out (FoMO) in the context of digital marketing. Consumers are increasingly influenced by market dynamics that affect product availability and vendors’ supply chains, often alongside the widespread impact of suppliers’ marketing [...] Read more.
This research examines the psychological mechanisms that drive consumers’ fear of missing out (FoMO) in the context of digital marketing. Consumers are increasingly influenced by market dynamics that affect product availability and vendors’ supply chains, often alongside the widespread impact of suppliers’ marketing messages and social factors. Using the S-O-R (stimulus–organism–response) model, we test a double-mediation model via structural equation modeling on a sample of online customers. The main goal of the study is to examine how the effects of social proof and perceived scarcity create a sense of urgency, thereby influencing FoMO. The results indicate that customers’ perceptions of scarcity have a strong and statistically significant effect on urgency, while social proof exerts a weaker yet notable influence. Moreover, urgency significantly amplifies both the socially related component and the general fear of missed opportunities. Mediation analyses reveal that perceived scarcity affects FoMO indirectly through urgency. Although this supports the proposed mediation pathway, the substantial empirical overlap between perceived scarcity and urgency suggests that this relationship should be interpreted with caution. In contrast, social proof’s indirect effects are not statistically significant. These findings suggest that urgency serves as a crucial psychological mechanism mediating the influence of perceived scarcity on consumers’ emotional responses, while social proof may operate through alternative channels, such as social comparison or normative influence. This paper contributes to the S-O-R model and offers new insights into commodity theory and cognitive dissonance theory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making)
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15 pages, 468 KB  
Article
AI Communication Tone and Consumer Judgment: The Role of Servant Perception in Behavioral Intentions
by John Yang
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 253; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16020253 - 10 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1410
Abstract
Artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in service interactions, requiring users to form rapid social judgments about AI communicators based on limited linguistic and contextual cues. This research examines how AI communication tone shapes behavioral intentions through social cognitive processes of role construal and [...] Read more.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in service interactions, requiring users to form rapid social judgments about AI communicators based on limited linguistic and contextual cues. This research examines how AI communication tone shapes behavioral intentions through social cognitive processes of role construal and agency attribution. Drawing on politeness theory, formality research, and social cognition perspectives, two scenario-based experiments test whether formal versus casual tone influences responses via attitudes toward the tone and the AI, and how these effects depend on perceptions of AI as a servant-like social actor. Study 1 shows that tone effects are moderated by servant perception and that economic framing, specifically paid versus free access, functions as an antecedent of hierarchical role construal. Study 2 replicates these effects and demonstrates that interaction structure, one-way versus two-way communication, similarly shapes servant perception by signaling differential autonomy. Across both studies, formal tone is more effective when AI is construed as subordinate, whereas casual tone is less effective under hierarchical role frames. By identifying servant perception as a central social cognitive mechanism, this research advances understanding of human judgment and decision making in technology-mediated interactions and offers implications for AI communication design aligned with role expectations. Because both studies rely on U.S. consumers, the findings should be interpreted within cultural contexts characterized by relatively low power distance, where role expectations and hierarchy norms may differ from other cultural settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making)
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14 pages, 522 KB  
Article
Human Presence in Short-Form Video Advertising: Social Judgments of Human and AI Presenters Under Privacy Concerns
by John Yang
Behav. Sci. 2026, 16(2), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16020240 - 8 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1700
Abstract
Digital retailing increasingly relies on short-form video advertising where human and AI presenters coexist, requiring consumers to form rapid social judgments based on minimal perceptual cues. This research examines how presentation format shapes consumer responses through perceived creator responsibility and effort, and how [...] Read more.
Digital retailing increasingly relies on short-form video advertising where human and AI presenters coexist, requiring consumers to form rapid social judgments based on minimal perceptual cues. This research examines how presentation format shapes consumer responses through perceived creator responsibility and effort, and how viewer-inferred privacy concern moderates these effects. Drawing on social cognition, deindividuation, and heuristic-cue perspectives, two online experiments (N = 656; N = 769) compared a human presenter with captions-only and with an AI avatar in retail-product video scenarios. Across both studies, the presence of a human presenter enhanced attitudes toward the video, perceived usefulness, trust, and purchase intention by sequentially increasing perceived responsibility and effort, reflecting viewers’ attributions of agency and motivational investment. Viewer-inferred privacy concern weakened these effects by attenuating responsibility attributions, demonstrating how contextual explanations recalibrate social judgments. The findings show that minimal human cues function as social cognitive signals of accountability in digital retail advertising. This research advances understanding of human judgment and decision making in consumer contexts and offers guidance for balancing human and AI communication under privacy-sensitive conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making)
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Review

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35 pages, 3253 KB  
Review
Social Cognitive Skills in Electric Vehicle Sales: Understanding Empathy, Trust, and Decision-Making in Sustainable Mobility Markets
by Sergio Escobar-Miranda and Luis Ballesteros-Sánchez
Behav. Sci. 2025, 15(12), 1681; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15121681 - 4 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1279
Abstract
The transition to electric mobility requires salespeople to go beyond technical expertise and develop advanced social–cognitive skills that shape consumer decision-making. This study examines how empathy, perspective-taking, and trust influence interactions between salespeople and potential buyers of electric vehicles (EVs). Through a systematic [...] Read more.
The transition to electric mobility requires salespeople to go beyond technical expertise and develop advanced social–cognitive skills that shape consumer decision-making. This study examines how empathy, perspective-taking, and trust influence interactions between salespeople and potential buyers of electric vehicles (EVs). Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, we identify the key cognitive and emotional competencies that enable sales professionals to interpret customer intentions, manage uncertainty, and guide rational yet emotionally influenced purchase decisions. Findings suggest that successful EV sales rely on understanding consumer beliefs about sustainability, risk, and technology, as well as on the salesperson’s ability to align messages with these cognitive frames. Based on this analysis, we propose a competency development framework that emphasizes empathy-driven communication, adaptive reasoning, and the integration of social cognition into training strategies. This perspective contributes to the broader understanding of how social–cognitive processes affect human judgment and decision-making in the emerging electric vehicle market. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Social Cognitive Factors Involved in Human Judgment and Decision Making)
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