The Game That Keeps On Giving
In this article, we shed some light on the following burning question:
How can we distinguish between altruistic donors that give without any expectation of reciprocation versus ‘warm-glow’ donors who give to receive rewards (e.g., social recognition, tax breaks) or avoid punishments (e.g., ostracism, damaged reputation)?
Game theory provides a method to morally differentiate ‘warm-glow’ givers from pure altruists. As a field of study, game theory offers a theoretical framework based on mathematical models to analyze social interactions. As such, it serves as a useful tool to study conflict and cooperation between rational decision-makers (Myerson, 1991). In a cooperation game, the payoff to each player depends on their actions. One particular game, The Prisoner’s Dilemma (see Table 1), has reliably held its own as an illustration of a novel finding. That is, what is best for one individual can be disastrous for the group.
References
Hoffman, M., Yoeli, E., & Navarrete, C. D. (2016). Game Theory and Morality. In The Evolution of Morality (pp. 289-316). Springer International Publishing.
Myerson, Roger B. (1991). Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict, Harvard University Press, p. 1.
Rey, J. (2008, June 1). If we all go for the blonde. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from https://plus.maths.org/content/if-we-all-go-blonde
About the Author
Arash Sharma
Arash is a Behavioural Scientist at the Government of Canada.
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