The role of ethnic identity on cooperation

Ethnic minorities reportedly experience one of the highest rates of being victimized via discrimination, thereby creating social and economic injustice. Despite there being research on how inequality relates to cooperation, there is a gap in the knowledge of the effects of being an ethnic minority on cooperation. This study aims to examine whether cooperation in an unequal prisoner’s dilemma game would differ between participants of ethnic minority status and Caucasians. We hypothesized ethnic minority participants would cooperate more, especially when being advantaged by cooperation. Moreover, we investigated whether this relationship could be moderated by their ethnic identification. 201 participants were recruited from Prolific to participate in an online unequal prisoner’s dilemma game, wherein they made 6 decisions with varying partners and were put in 2 conditions, one of which was given a higher advantage from cooperation and the other a disadvantage. They completed a...Show moreEthnic minorities reportedly experience one of the highest rates of being victimized via discrimination, thereby creating social and economic injustice. Despite there being research on how inequality relates to cooperation, there is a gap in the knowledge of the effects of being an ethnic minority on cooperation. This study aims to examine whether cooperation in an unequal prisoner’s dilemma game would differ between participants of ethnic minority status and Caucasians. We hypothesized ethnic minority participants would cooperate more, especially when being advantaged by cooperation. Moreover, we investigated whether this relationship could be moderated by their ethnic identification. 201 participants were recruited from Prolific to participate in an online unequal prisoner’s dilemma game, wherein they made 6 decisions with varying partners and were put in 2 conditions, one of which was given a higher advantage from cooperation and the other a disadvantage. They completed a questionnaire afterwards. Results found individuals of ethnic minority status did not cooperate significantly more in general and in the advantaged position than their White counterparts. No moderation by ethnic identity strength was found. An exploratory analysis found ethnic minority participants cooperated significantly less in general and in the advantaged position. Moreover, we focused on the relationship between SES and cooperation. However, it yielded no statistically significant results. Still, this analysis proposes the idea that perhaps the ethnic minority participants cooperated less because they acquired a scarcity mindset, resulting from experiencing poverty. This study broadened our understanding of the effects of minority status on cooperation.Show less

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The role of ethnic identity on cooperation