Further Attempts to Establish Differences Between People Who Cooperate and People Who Defect in Playing an Experimental Commons Dilemma Game
Abstract
Subjects playing a laboratory experimental game were also asked to fill out questionnaires assessing personality characteristics. The game required each subject in a group to make either a defecting choice that monetarily rewards the defector but fines the other members of the group, or a cooperating choice. The payoffs were arranged so that each person gains more by deciding to defect than to cooperate, but the group as a whole is better off if all members cooperate. The variables hypothesized to be associated with choice of cooperative or defecting response were: (i) an introspective statement that the game was approached in a cooperative or competitive manner, (ii) a belief that other people tend to approach the game in a cooperative or competitive manner, (iii) the Wiggins Authority Conflict Scale, (iv) the Machiavellian Scale and (v) a rating about belief in the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ. These findings are consistent with past findings that behavior in experimental gaming situations is not related to stable personality characteristics.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1976
- Accession Number
- ADA033039
Entities
People
- F. Talarowski
- Harriet Shaklee
- Robyn M. Dawes