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The Collective Trust Game: An Online Group Adaptation of the Trust Game Based on the HoneyComb Paradigm
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Does Group Size Matter for Behavior in Online Trust Dilemmas?
Sabrina Artinger1,2, Nir Vulkan2
1Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Plos One
|November 30, 2016
Summary
Group size impacts online trust dilemmas, with women increasing cooperation in larger groups. Overall cooperation remains stable, but gender differences emerge in large-group dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Social Psychology
- Game Theory
Background:
- Online trust dilemmas are crucial for understanding social interactions.
- Group size is a key variable influencing collective behavior and decision-making.
- Previous research has yielded mixed results on the effect of group size on cooperation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of group size on cooperative behavior in online trust dilemmas.
- To identify potential gender-specific responses to varying group sizes.
- To examine the robustness of findings when controlling for individual differences.
Main Methods:
- Conducted an online experiment involving trust dilemmas with group sizes ranging from 4 to 100 players.
- Measured levels of cooperation across different group sizes.
- Analyzed data for gender differences and controlled for factors like risk aversion and age.
Main Results:
- Overall cooperation levels remained stable irrespective of group size.
- Significant gender differences in cooperation were observed.
- Women demonstrated increased cooperation with larger group sizes and cooperated more than men in large groups.
Conclusions:
- Group size does not uniformly affect cooperation but reveals significant gender-based variations.
- Women's cooperative behavior is sensitive to group size, unlike men's.
- Future research should consider gender and large-group dynamics in online trust scenarios.
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