Game Theory Report Details PDF

Report details Game theory Psychologists are using Game theory to explain human behaviour, such as generosity. The dictator game is an example of game theory whereby a player makes a decision about giving money to another person Game theory is used to explain people’s strategies during interactio...

Report details Game theory Psychologists are using Game theory to explain human behaviour, such as generosity. The dictator game is an example of game theory whereby a player makes a decision about giving money to another person Game theory is used to explain people’s strategies during interactions involving sharing, where the resource is typically money generosity willingly providing support and resources to others Two factors can influence generosity reputation concern social distance. Reputation how others perceive you based on your personality and previous behaviour Social distance individuals are predicted to behave more positively towards people they have a social connection with 4 Conditions Social distance consisted of an interaction and no interaction condition. Reputation concern had a revealed condition, where decisions were known, and a concealed condition, where decisions remained unknown. 2 Hypotheses If social distance impacts generosity, more money should be given in the interaction condition compared to the no interaction condition. If reputation concern impacts generosity, more money should be given in the revealed condition compared to the concealed condition. Design 2x2 between subjects design Quasi- experimental The dependent variable, generosity, was operationally defined in this study as resource sharing, specifically the average amount of money ranging from $0 to $10 Procedure After 1 minute of interacting, students entered their decision and moved to the left to a new person. The Dictator Game was complete when all students interacted exactly once. Students in the no interaction conditions made a decision for each person simply by looking at them, either in person or via zoom. In the revealed conditions, students were told a list would showcase everyone’s decisions at the end of the game. However, once the game was completed, students re-consented and were informed that their answers would not actually be revealed. concealed conditions were informed their answers were anonymous and confidential. Results significant small main effect of social distance non-significant main effect of reputation non-significant interaction Participants in the interaction condition gave considerably more money on average compared to the no interaction condition Participants in the revealed condition gave only slightly more money on average compared to the concealed condition