The ultimatum bargaining game: An adaptation for teaching ethics.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Game Theory
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• The ultimatum bargaining game is a standard economic tool to assess fairness and generosity in negotiations.
• Previous research indicates predictable outcomes in standard ultimatum games.
• Adapting economic games for educational purposes requires modifications that may influence established outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt the ultimatum bargaining game for classroom application among first-year dental students.
• To determine if established game outcomes are replicated with educational modifications.
• To explore how perceived entitlement influences fairness and generosity in a simulated negotiation.

Main Methods:

• 452 first-year dental students participated in a classroom-based ultimatum game exercise.
• Students acted as 'donors,' allocating a portion of an imaginary $100 stake to a 'recipient' classmate.
• Donor status was assigned either randomly or based on earned academic rank (upper-half class ranking) to test fairness variations.

Main Results:

• When donor status was random, 70.4% (2020) and 61% (2018) of students offered the fairest split ($50).
• When donor status was based on earned academic rank, offers of $50 decreased to 49.5% (2020) and 51.8% (2018).
• The results demonstrate a significant decline in fairness and generosity when entitlement is perceived as earned.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully adapted the ultimatum game for educational use, replicating key findings.
• Perceived earned property entitlement, such as higher academic rank, diminishes fairness and generosity.
• This classroom application provides immediate self-appraisal for students, highlighting the impact of perceived entitlement on economic behavior.