Cooperation, Motivation and Social Balance

46 Pages Posted: 18 Mar 2016

See all articles by Steven Bosworth

Steven Bosworth

Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Tania Singer

University College London - Functional Imaging Laboratory

Dennis J. Snower

University of Kiel - Institute for World Economics (IfW); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 18, 2016

Abstract

This paper examines the reflexive interplay between individual decisions and social forces to analyze the evolution of cooperation in the presence of “multi-directedness,” whereby people’s preferences depend on their psychological motives. People have access to multiple, discrete motives. Different motives may be activated by different social settings. Inter-individual differences in dispositional types affect the responsiveness of people’s motives to their social settings. The evolution of these dispositional types is driven by changes in the frequencies of social settings. In this context, economic policies can influence economic decisions not merely by modifying incentives operating through given preferences, but also by influencing people’s motives (thereby changing their preferences) and by changing the distribution of dispositional types in the population (thereby changing their motivational responsiveness to social settings).

Keywords: motivation, reflexivity, cooperation, social dilemma, endogenous preferences, dispositions

JEL Classification: A130, C720, D010, D030, D620, D640

Suggested Citation

Bosworth, Steven and Singer, Tania and Snower, Dennis J., Cooperation, Motivation and Social Balance (February 18, 2016). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5763, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2749076 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2749076

Steven Bosworth

Kiel Institute for the World Economy ( email )

P.O. Box 4309
Kiel, Schleswig-Hosltein D-24100
Germany

Tania Singer

University College London - Functional Imaging Laboratory ( email )

Gower Street
London
United Kingdom

Dennis J. Snower (Contact Author)

University of Kiel - Institute for World Economics (IfW) ( email )

Duesternbrooker Weg 120
D-24118 Kiel
Germany
+49+431-8814-235 (Phone)

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

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