Fig. 1: A decision might cause a potentially negative outcome for another person, and the negative outcome may have a negligible or large impact on their well-being.
From: Uncertainty about the impact of social decisions increases prosocial behaviour
a, Outcome uncertainty is uncertainty about whether or not a decision will cause a negative outcome for another person. In the depicted example, the decision to go to work when feeling ill might or might not lead to infecting a colleague. b, Impact uncertainty is uncertainty about how badly the other person’s well-being will be impacted by the negative outcome. In the depicted example, infecting a colleague with a disease might cause them a great deal of suffering, or the infection might have only a mild effect.
