This paper focusses on decision-making in volunteer dilemmas within group settings, examining the impact of dependence and observability on individuals' willingness to volunteer, in a modified...Show moreThis paper focusses on decision-making in volunteer dilemmas within group settings, examining the impact of dependence and observability on individuals' willingness to volunteer, in a modified volunteers dilemma involving two subgroups. Group dependence refers to situations where individuals within a subgroup make decisions that directly affect the outcomes of a larger six-person group to which they belong. Observability occurs when members of the larger group can see the decision-making process of the subgroup members. Drawing from game theory and volunteer dilemma literature, the study challenges conventional perspectives by adopting a broader lens, incorporating situational influences. Contrary to expectations, the findings revealed that group dependence alone did not significantly influence participants' willingness to volunteer. Similarly, mere observability by a larger group did not demonstrate a significant effect on volunteering decisions. Furthermore, when both dependence and observability were combined, no positive effect on volunteering was observed. Instead, the results suggested a decrease in willingness to volunteer. The study discusses the complex nature of decision-making in social dilemmas, acknowledging the importance of specific conditions, task nature, and perceived consequences. Limitations, including the sample's composition and the online experimental setting, are addressed. Recommendations for future research involve extending the study to a more diverse population, refining experimental tasks, and exploring interdisciplinary collaborations to enrich insights into volunteer dilemmas.Show less
This study investigates the relationship between conflict avoidance and resource dilemmas. With the increasing need for natural resources, the demand for management and prevention of resource...Show moreThis study investigates the relationship between conflict avoidance and resource dilemmas. With the increasing need for natural resources, the demand for management and prevention of resource depletion grows. Personality has shown to have significant effects on social dilemmas, however, research on individual differences in conflict avoidance remains limited. We conducted an experimental design in which we tested whether conflict avoiders exclude group members less (I) and harvest less from the available resource (II) than non- conflict avoiders. In addition, we tested whether people who score higher on conflict avoidance will harvest less in an exclusion condition in comparison to a non-exclusion condition (III). Our findings suggest no significant relationship between conflict avoidance and behavior in a resource dilemma game. The study’s implications highlight the need for further research to take factors like a more representative sample into account as well as the consideration of conflict avoidance as a situation-dependent variable.Show less
Resource scarcity and diminishing biodiversity are pressing global issues underscored by phenomena such as Earth Overshoot Day. Understanding human behavior in resource dilemma tasks offers...Show moreResource scarcity and diminishing biodiversity are pressing global issues underscored by phenomena such as Earth Overshoot Day. Understanding human behavior in resource dilemma tasks offers insights into mitigating resource overconsumption. This study tried to identify the impact of average group dominance on group performance in resource dilemmas. Drawing on observed behavior like the tragedy of the commons by Van Lange and colleagues (2013) and theories on social heuristics, we hypothesized that higher group dominance scores would correlate with less cooperative behavior and lower proportion of optimal group resource harvest (POGH). We conducted a computerized resource dilemma task with 63 participants, divided into groups of three, after having assessed their individual dominance score using a modified Dominance-Prestige Scale developed by Cheng et al.. Results indicated a very weak, non-significant negative correlation between group dominance scores and the POGH. Limitations in the methodology of the study are believed to have been the main reason the results were not significant. Further research into the social mechanisms behind the tragedy of the commons is recommended.Show less
The social dilemma called the anticommons dilemma represents a context in which a scarce resource has multiple owners who can exclude one another from harvesting from that resource. Not much...Show moreThe social dilemma called the anticommons dilemma represents a context in which a scarce resource has multiple owners who can exclude one another from harvesting from that resource. Not much attention has been paid to factors that lead to non-cooperative decisions in this context. Consequently, the present study investigates how the salience of collective consequences (externalities awareness) influences (non-)cooperative choice behavior in people differing in social value orientations (SVO). After SVO was measured and one of the two externalities awareness conditions was presented, the participants (N = 168) had to indicate a minimum price to give a co-owner access to the resource (WTA) in a modified anticommons paradigm. It was expected that when externalities were made salient individuals would display higher levels of cooperation, by indicating lower WTA’s, compared to when externalities were not made salient. Moreover, it was expected that when externalities were not made salient prosocials would display higher levels of cooperation than proselfs, whereas when externalities were made salient this difference would be smaller. Although the effect of externalities awareness and the interaction effect of this factor with SVO was non-significant, exploratory analyses indicated severe underuse of the common resource. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.Show less
