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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Gender, Punishment, And Cooperation: Men Hurt Others To Advance Their Interests, Terence C. Burnham
Gender, Punishment, And Cooperation: Men Hurt Others To Advance Their Interests, Terence C. Burnham
ESI Working Papers
A laboratory experiment that reports on gender, cooperation, and punishment in two repeated public goods game using high-powered punishment. In a repeated public goods game with punishment, no statistically significant differences between men and women are reported. In a modified game that adds an explicit payoff for relative performance, men punish more than women, men obtain higher rank, and punishment by males decreases payoffs for both men and for women. These results contribute to the debate about the origins and maintenance of cooperation.
Public Goods With Punishment & Payment For Relative Rank, Terence C. Burnham
Public Goods With Punishment & Payment For Relative Rank, Terence C. Burnham
ESI Working Papers
A laboratory experiment designed to investigate the role of relative performance-based payoffs on cooperation in the context of punishment. Subjects play a repeated public goods game with high-powered punishment (50:1) and additional payoffs based on relative performance. Contributions to the public good are nearly maximal. Punishment levels are substantial, higher than the same game without relative rank payoffs, and sufficiently high that total payoffs are negative. The group would make much more money in the same setting without punishment. This study contributes to investigation of the role of altruism in human cooperation.