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Beyond a binary theorizing of prosociality.

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Humans exhibit a prosocial bias in public goods games, but not to the extent of always foregoing profit. Cooperative responses to persistent cooperators (zealots) offer policy insights.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Game Theory
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Human cooperation in public goods games exceeds predictions from economic rationality.
  • Two hypotheses explain this: innate prosocial preference or a confused learner effect during game acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To empirically distinguish between the prosocial preference and confused learner hypotheses.
  • To investigate the impact of persistent cooperators ('zealots') on human cooperation in the Prisoner's Dilemma.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized large-scale experimental data from the two-player Prisoner's Dilemma, a variant of the public goods game.
  • Manipulated the presence of 'zealots' (bots programmed for persistent cooperation) and participant awareness of them.

Main Results:

  • Confirmed a prosocial bias in human participants, but it does not lead to a complete disregard for personal profit.
  • Observed a significant cooperative response when participants were aware of or interacted with zealots.
  • Findings indicate a more nuanced understanding of human cooperation than previously theorized.

Conclusions:

  • Human cooperation is influenced by a prosocial bias, moderated by self-interest and environmental cues like persistent cooperators.
  • The study moves beyond simplistic explanations of prosociality, highlighting the complexity of cooperative decision-making.
  • The positive response to zealots has practical implications for designing policies that encourage cooperation.