This study explored how prosocial motivation and social reward relate to speech perception in noise (SPiN) in a control group (N = 136). We investigated SPiN performance and subjective listening experiences across different masker conditions: 1-speaker, 2-speaker, and steady-state speech-shaped noise (SSN). We conducted a PCA on social trait questionnaires and created two dimensions of social reward differing only in prosocial reward. Results indicate that individuals who rated themselves higher in prosocial reward traits performed better in the condition that yielded the highest threshold out of the three conditions i.e., the 2-speaker condition. Age significantly influenced subjective ratings of listening effort across all conditions where older participants reported greater effort. These findings highlight prosocial motivation as a potential factor influencing SPiN abilities, particularly in complex listening scenarios, alongside the role of age in shaping subjective auditory experiences.

We also collected data in an autistic group (N = 27) using the same methods and procedures along with some additional measures. Findings in this sample showed SRTs in the 1-speaker condition were predicted by the individual's musical perception skills (MINI-PROMS) and SRTs in the SSN condition were predicted by the listener's working memory scores from a reading span task. Interestingly, working memory scores anticorrelated with ratings of prosocial reward whereas SSN SRTs correlated with a prosociality scale. In other words, higher prosocial ratings were associated with worse performance in SSN and worse working memory performance. These findings demonstrate a seemingly novel and distinct tradeoff in autism between prosocial orientation and cognitive ability when performing listening tasks amidst energetic noise.