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Taking and the disruption of cooperation
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|May 1, 1971
Summary
The opportunity to take from another participant
Area of Science:
- Behavioral economics
- Game theory
Background:
- Cooperation is essential for societal function.
- Understanding factors that disrupt cooperation is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the option to "take" resources affects cooperative behavior.
- To examine the impact of continuous versus intermittent "taking" opportunities.
Main Methods:
- Participants engaged in a task with options to cooperate or defect (take).
- Experiments varied the conditions under which "taking" was possible (continuous, intermittent, or always).
Main Results:
- The mere possibility of "taking" significantly disrupted cooperative behavior in Experiments I and II.
- In Experiment III, allowing "taking" regardless of cooperation led to either cooperation or experiment termination.
Conclusions:
- The potential for exploitation undermines cooperation.
- Behavioral norms and task design influence the stability of cooperation.
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