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Strategic Self-Regulation in Groups: Collective Implementation Intentions Help Cooperate When Cooperation Is Called
J Lukas Thürmer1,2, Frank Wieber1,3, Peter M Gollwitzer1,4,5
1Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|December 17, 2020
Summary
Collective implementation intentions (cIIs) help individuals cooperate selectively within groups. Planning to consider group earnings increased cooperation with group members but not strangers, demonstrating strategic social dilemma navigation.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Game Theory
Background:
- Cooperation is essential for group functioning but costly for individuals.
- Unconditional cooperation can be maladaptive due to high personal costs.
- Strategic cooperation is necessary to navigate social dilemmas effectively.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of collective implementation intentions (cIIs) in promoting strategic cooperation.
- To determine if cIIs enable individuals to cooperate selectively with group members.
- To explore the impact of cIIs on behavior in social dilemma games.
Main Methods:
- Participants formed "We"-if-then plans (cIIs) to guide their behavior.
- Behavior was assessed in a Prisoner's Dilemma game against group members and strangers.
- Cooperation was also measured in a structurally similar Investment game.
Main Results:
- A cII to consider group earnings increased cooperative decisions when playing against a group member.
- This effect was not observed when playing against a stranger.
- Cooperation did not increase in the Investment game, indicating specificity of cIIs.
Conclusions:
- Collective implementation intentions (cIIs) facilitate strategic and selective cooperation within groups.
- cIIs can help solve social dilemmas by aligning individual behavior with group goals.
- The effectiveness of cIIs is context-dependent and requires specific planning for the situation.
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