Social preferences are a type of preference

Preference

-Definitions in different disciplines:The term “preferences” is used in a variety of related, but not identical, ways in the scientific literature. This makes it necessary to make explicit the sense in which the term is used in different social sciences....

 studied in behavioral and experimental

Experimental economics

Experimental economics is the application of experimental methods to study economic questions. Data collected in experiments are used to estimate effect size, test the validity of economic theories, and illuminate market mechanisms. Economic experiments usually use cash to motivate subjects, in...

 economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 and social psychology

Social psychology

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...

, including interpersonal altruism

Altruism

Altruism is a concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures, and a core aspect of various religious traditions, though the concept of 'others' toward whom concern should be directed can vary among cultures and religions. Altruism is the opposite of...

, fairness

Fair division

Fair division, also known as the cake-cutting problem, is the problem of dividing a resource in such a way that all recipients believe that they have received a fair amount...

, reciprocity

Reciprocity

Reciprocity may refer to:*Reciprocity , used to describe the concept of free trade with the United States of America** Reciprocal trade agreement, entered into in order to reduce tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions on items traded between the signatories*Reciprocity , the relationship...

, and inequity aversion

Inequity aversion

Inequity aversion is the preference for fairness and resistance to incidental inequalities. The social sciences that study inequity aversion include sociology, economics, psychology, anthropology and ethology.-Human studies:...

.

The term "social preferences" incorporates obstreperous (esp. the Fehr-Schmidt inequity aversion model) and non-obstreperous(e.g., vulnerability-based) theories.

Much of the recent evidence used to test society ideas and models has come from economics experiments.
However, social preferences also matter outside the laboratory.