Social Dilemmas: Perspectives on Individuals and Groups

by David A. Schroeder

Overview

Efficient resource management and provision of public goods represent social dilemmas for those involved. They must choose between a course of action that would be in their personal best interest (e.g., overharvesting fishing banks to take a bigger profit; withholding one's contributions to National Public Radio) and some alternative course that would be more advantageous for the community as a whole (e.g., limiting one's present catch to ensure future fishing stocks; contributing to NPR, even though contributors and noncontributors alike would be able to enjoy its programming). The decisions made by those facing social dilemmas are affected by many factors, and the contributors to this book have explored the diverse processes that ultimately lead an individual to choose between self-interest and the well-being of the community. By gaining a better appreciation of the variables that affect decisions made by those caught in social dilemmas, more effective ways to encourage greater cooperation and to promote the common good may be found.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275923921
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/24/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1440L (what's this?)

About the Author

DAVID A. SCHROEDER is Professor and chair of the department of Psychology at the University of Arkansas. In addition to his teaching and research concerning social dilemmas, he has a continuing interest in the motivation of helping and is coauthor of a new book entitled The Social Psychology of Helping and Altruism.

Table of Contents

Preface
An Introduction to Social Dilemmas by David A. Schroeder
Reward Structure and Cooperation in the N-Person Prisoners' Dilemma by S. S. Komorita and Alan L. Ellis
Norms in Social Dilemmas by Norbert L. Kerr
Helping the Group or Helping Yourself? Social Motives and Group Identity in Resource Dilemmas by Roderick M. Kramer and Lisa Goldman
Social Contracts and the Provision of Public Goods by Sanford L. Braver
Social Dilemmas and Perceptions: Experiments on Framing and Inconsequentiality by Peregrine Schwartz-Shea and Randy T. Simmons
Cooperation under Laissez Faire and Majority Decision Rules in Group-Level Social Dilemmas by John Orbell, Robyn Dawes, and Alphons van de Kragt
Collective Hedonism: A Social Loafing Analysis of Social Dilemmas by Kipling Williams, Jeffrey M. Jackson, and Steven J. Karau
When Do People Want to Change the Rules for Allocating Shared Resources? by Charles Samuelson and David Messick
How to Stop Throwing Good Money after Bad: Using Theory to Guide Practice by Joel Brockner
A Framework for Understanding Decisions in Social Dilemmas by David A. Schroeder, Mark E. Sibicky, and Mary Elizabeth Irwin
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

Eleven essays present various perspectives on important social dilemmas of recent times. Some topics include norms in social dilemmas, social contracts and the provision of public goods, cooperation under laissez faire and majority decision rules in group-level social decisions, and using theory to guide practice. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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