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Payoff-based learning explains the decline in cooperation in public goods games
Maxwell N Burton-Chellew1, Heinrich H Nax2, Stuart A West3
1Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK Magdalen College, Oxford OX1 4AU, UK Nuffield College, New Road, Oxford OX1 1NF, UK max.burton-chellew@zoo.ox.ac.uk.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|January 16, 2015
Summary
Economic games reveal that individuals in public goods games primarily learn to maximize personal income, not act altruistically. Increased information clarifies consequences, reducing cooperation and suggesting anti-social rather than pro-social preferences.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Game Theory
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Public goods games are used to study social behaviors in humans and primates.
- Previous studies suggest humans exhibit pro-social and altruistic tendencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test whether observed behaviors in public goods games stem from social preferences or payoff maximization.
- To investigate the role of information in shaping cooperative behavior.
Main Methods:
- Comparing explanatory power of different behavioral rules in public goods games.
- Varying the amount of information provided to participants.
Main Results:
- Individual behavior is best explained by a learning rule focused on maximizing personal income.
- Conditional cooperation diminishes when game consequences are clarified.
- Observed social preferences appear more anti-social than pro-social.
Conclusions:
- Learning to maximize personal payoff is a stronger driver than altruism in public goods games.
- Information transparency is key in understanding and potentially altering cooperative dynamics.
- The study challenges the notion of inherent human pro-sociality, suggesting a greater tendency towards self-interest.
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