Inverse planning of social interactions in relationships
Abstract
We propose a formal account of how structured, shared knowledge about social relationships shapes action interpretation. The model represents relationships as constraints in a social environment, analogous to boundaries or obstacles in a physical environment and operating within the same generative model, but exerting distinct constraints on action. As an initial test of this framework, we draw on research across the social sciences to capture in the models how one dimension of relationships -- formality versus intimacy -- shapes how people interpret interpersonally vulnerable behavior. We test this account in stories of naturalistic everyday situations, extending structured models of action understanding to open-ended contexts. Across six preregistered experiments (N = 1,554), the model captures people's inferences about desires, physical environments, and social relationships. This work formalizes how relationships can constrain -- and be revealed through -- everyday action.
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BibTeX
@misc{chen2026inverse,
title = {{Inverse planning of social interactions in relationships}},
author = {Alicia M. Chen and Ashley J. Thomas and Joshua B. Tenenbaum and Rebecca Saxe},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.01639},
eprint = {2609.01639},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01639},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Inverse planning of social interactions in relationships
AU - Alicia M. Chen
AU - Ashley J. Thomas
AU - Joshua B. Tenenbaum
AU - Rebecca Saxe
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.01639
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01639
AB - We propose a formal account of how structured, shared knowledge about social relationships shapes action interpretation. The model represents relationships as constraints in a social environment, analogous to boundaries or obstacles in a physical environment and operating within the same generative model, but exerting distinct constraints on action. As an initial test of this framework, we draw on research across the social sciences to capture in the models how one dimension of relationships -- formality versus intimacy -- shapes how people interpret interpersonally vulnerable behavior. We test this account in stories of naturalistic everyday situations, extending structured models of action understanding to open-ended contexts. Across six preregistered experiments (N = 1,554), the model captures people's inferences about desires, physical environments, and social relationships. This work formalizes how relationships can constrain -- and be revealed through -- everyday action.
ER -