k: McGraw- H Summary of Myers, D. (2012) Explori ing social psychology (6. Ed) New York Hill.

Module 28 8 (Pages 355-368)

Social dilemmas d Known games to o explain how h we are e destroyin ng our wor rld
The Prisoner's P dil lemma Sev veral of the problems p we have arise because b vari ious parties p pursue their r own interes sts with hout thinking g about othe er people, and ironically, they contrib bute to the co ollective det triment The e reading goe es on descri ibing the wel ll - known pri risoner's dile emma though ht experimen nt. - Two prisoner rs are separat ted and offere ed a plea dea al without the other knowin ng - If one of them m confesses, then he gains s immunity an nd his buddy y goes to life s sentence. If both confess, then n they will hav ve to pay 50 years. y If the tw wo remain silent, then they y will go free and have to pay a small fine - Although the best is to rem main silent, th he lack of trus st is always so o great, that the prisoners always confe ess because they t believe th hat the other did so; thus e ending up wit th a 50 years sentence whereas both of f them could have h been fre ee only by not t talking and t trusting that their buddies won't talk either The tragedy of the e commons The e commons can c be air, water, w food, or o anything s shared as a li imited resou urce If ev veryone use es everything g in moderati ion, there wi ill be plenty f for years and d years to co ome the The e problem is that people think that be ecause they can pay for t that extra 15 5 minutes in t sho ower, then th hey are entitl led to it, and by doing tha at, they will e end up contr ributing to th he con ntamination of o all the drin nking water in i the world Simila ar features of o both game es Bot th people exp plain their ow wn situation situationally y (I have to p protect myse elf from exp ploitation by my opponen nt) Mot tives often change. c At fir rst, some peo ople just wan nt to make e extra money, but after the ey wan nt to minimiz ze their loses s to save fac ce and avoid defeat there is alwa The e games are non-zero-su um games. Meaning M that t ays a party th hat wins mor re... a littl le more is OK K, but there are a two bad reactions r to this - Bad reaction 1: The party that loses a little bit can't s stand it, and f feels unfairly treated - Bad reaction 2: The party that wins a lit win this much ttle bit ask its elf "if I could w h with so little e effort, why no ot win more?" ", and then they proceed to o eat up all th he precious re esources

Resolv ving socia al dilemmas s

Regu ulation If ta axes were vo oluntary, sch hools and mil litary securit ty would hav ve to run out t of charity Ove erfishing has s been reduc ced by regula ation Make e the group small: s People e will care mo ore for each other if they y know each other Comm munication: helps raise expectations e s for coopera ation and avo oid believing g that no-one e would d care Chan nging the pay yoffs. Examp ple: Incentive es to the carp poolers Appe eals to altruis stic norms: make m people aware of the e good consequences of f behaving w well

Prepared by Ariadna 73

Page 1 of 2

Summary of Myers, D. (2012) Exploring social psychology (6. Ed) New York: McGraw- Hill. Module 28 (Pages 355-368)

Competition: The environment of competition is a fertile soil for conflict and war Perceived injustice: People who have less think that it is not fair. People who have more think that they do deserve what they have Misperception: People in conflict form distorted images of one another Mirror-Image Perceptions. (US and THEM)
The misperceptions of those in conflict are mutual. They are an obstacle to peace Arab-israeli conflict ("We are indigenous, they are invaders; we are needy, they are greedy, etc" The attack of the others is "bloodthirsty". My attack is "self-defense"

Shifting perceptions
When for any reason the enemy becomes an ally, miraculously their "bloodthirst" becomes "intelligence and self discipline"

Last advice: When in conflict, do not assume that the other fails to share your values and morality. Rather, compare perceptions, assuming that the other is likely perceiving the situation differently

Prepared by Ariadna 73

Page 2 of 2