Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

Article


Kjell, O. and Thompson, Sam 2013. Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game. PeerJ. 1, p. e231.
AuthorsKjell, O. and Thompson, Sam
Abstract

Objective. To explore the influences of discrete positive and negative emotions on cooperation in the context of a social dilemma game.

Design. Two controlled studies were undertaken. In Study 1, 69 participants were randomly assigned to an essay emotion manipulation task designed to induce either guilt, joy or no strong emotion. In Study 2, 95 participants were randomly assigned to one of the same three tasks, and the impact of emotional condition on cooperation was explored using a repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game.

Results. Study 1 established that the manipulation task was successful in inducing the specified emotions. The analysis from Study 2 revealed no significant main effects for emotions, in contrast to previous research. However, there was a significant effect for participants’ pre-existing tendency to cooperate (social value orientation; SVO).

Conclusion. Methodological explanations for the result are explored, including the possible impact of trial-and-error strategies, different cooperation games and endogenous vs exogenous emotions.

JournalPeerJ
Journal citation1, p. e231
ISSN2167-8359
Year2013
Publisher's version
License
CC BY
Web address (URL)http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.231
Publication dates
Print2013
Publication process dates
Deposited20 Jan 2014
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https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/85y08

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