Group efficiency and fainrness in social dilemmas. -An experimental gaming approach-

Several pressing problems in modern society result from too many people acting in their private interest rather than in the common interest. Topical examples of the undesired consequences of selfinterested behavior are over-production, traffic congestion, and environmental pollution. The benefits of maximizing one's production rates, travelling by private car, and dumping toxic waste products accrue to the individual actor, while the costs of such behavior (price declines, time delays in traveling, and environmental deterioration) are spread out over the whole society. Such arrangements of costs and benefits confront goups of interdependent people with a so called social dilemma (Dawes, 1980): for any individual it may be more profitable to act in one's private interest than in the common interest; however, all individuals are worse off if all act in their private interest rather than in the common interest. The present dissertation reports five empirical studies on group members' behavior in experimental social dilemma games. These studies focus on some of the many social psychological issues that come up from social dilemmas ... Zie: Summary