A1 Journal article (refereed)
Human cooperation in groups: variation begets variation (2015)
van den Berg, P., Molleman, L., Junikka, J., Puurtinen, M., & Weissing, F. J. (2015). Human cooperation in groups: variation begets variation. Scientific Reports, 5, Article 16144. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16144
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: van den Berg, Pieter; Molleman, Lucas; Junikka, Jaakko; Puurtinen, Mikael; Weissing, Franz J.
Journal or series: Scientific Reports
ISSN: 2045-2322
eISSN: 2045-2322
Publication year: 2015
Volume: 5
Issue number: 0
Article number: 16144
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16144
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/47792
Additional information: Lehdellä vain volyyminumerointi.
Abstract
Published: 04 November 2015
Human cooperation in groups: variation begets variation
Pieter van den Berg, Lucas Molleman, Jaakko Junikka, Mikael Puurtinen & Franz J. Weissing
Scientific Reports volume 5, Article number: 16144 (2015) Cite this article
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Abstract
Many experiments on human cooperation have revealed that individuals differ systematically in their tendency to cooperate with others. It has also been shown that individuals condition their behaviour on the overall cooperation level of their peers. Yet, little is known about how individuals respond to heterogeneity in cooperativeness in their neighbourhood. Here, we present an experimental study investigating whether and how people respond to heterogeneous behaviour in a public goods game. We find that a large majority of subjects does respond to heterogeneity in their group, but they respond in quite different ways. Most subjects contribute less to the public good when the contributions of their peers are more heterogeneous, but a substantial fraction of individuals consistently contributes more in this case. In addition, we find that individuals that respond positively to heterogeneity have a higher general cooperation tendency. The finding that social responsiveness occurs in different forms and is correlated with cooperativeness may have important implications for the outcome of cooperative interactions.
Free keywords: human cooperation; heterogeneous behaviour; cooperation tendency; public goods game
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- Evolution of conflict and cooperation in human groups
- Puurtinen, Mikael
- Research Council of Finland
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2015
JUFO rating: 2
