Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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Cooperation and competition are important aspects of group behavior that have been well-researched in social psychology, but the relation between these elements has not been investigated to a...Show moreCooperation and competition are important aspects of group behavior that have been well-researched in social psychology, but the relation between these elements has not been investigated to a comparable degree. While competition between groups is known to increase cooperation within groups, the precise magnitude of its influence is not clear. Theoretically-relevant moderators that could influence this relationship have been left largely unexplored, and influential methods of studying cooperation and competition have not been assessed. Therefore, in this pre-registered meta-analysis, we investigated the impact of between-group interactions, including outright between-group competition and situations where groups compare their performance to other groups, on within-group cooperation. We conducted a systematic review of the literature involving economic games that compare cooperation in the presence of an intergroup interaction to cooperation within single groups. We compiled 17 relevant studies which yielded 47 effect sizes. Our multilevel random effects model revealed a small-to-medium, positive effect of intergroup interaction on within-group cooperation (g = 0.505, N = 4187). Confirmatory moderator analyses indicated that males, compared to females, invested more in within-group cooperation during intergroup interactions than in single, isolated groups. Additionally, effects involving intergroup comparison were weaker than effects featuring intergroup competition. Exploratory moderator analyses revealed that several variations in the methods of study impact the effect on within-group cooperation (e.g. deception, decision type, and participant matching). Our findings present compelling meta-analytic evidence that intergroup competition has a reliable impact on cooperation, and raises several opportunities for future research.Show less
