Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma
Abstract The level of moral development may be crucial to understand behavior when people have to choose between prioritizing individual gains or pursuing general social benefits. This study evaluated whether two different psychological constructs, moral reasoning and moral competence, are associate...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30314-7 |
| _version_ | 1827984065443135488 |
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| author | Rubén Andrés Miranda-Rodríguez Iwin Leenen Hyemin Han Germán Palafox-Palafox Georgina García-Rodríguez |
| author_facet | Rubén Andrés Miranda-Rodríguez Iwin Leenen Hyemin Han Germán Palafox-Palafox Georgina García-Rodríguez |
| author_sort | Rubén Andrés Miranda-Rodríguez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The level of moral development may be crucial to understand behavior when people have to choose between prioritizing individual gains or pursuing general social benefits. This study evaluated whether two different psychological constructs, moral reasoning and moral competence, are associated with cooperative behavior in the context of the prisoner's dilemma game, a two-person social dilemma where individuals choose between cooperation or defection. One hundred and eighty-nine Mexican university students completed the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2; measuring moral reasoning) and the Moral Competence Test (MCT) and played an online version of the prisoner’s dilemma game, once against each participant in a group of 6–10 players. Our results indicate that cooperative behavior is strongly affected by the outcomes in previous rounds: Except when both participants cooperated, the probability of cooperation with other participants in subsequent rounds decreased. Both the DIT-2 and MCT independently moderated this effect of previous experiences, particularly in the case of sucker-outcomes. Individuals with high scores on both tests were not affected when in previous rounds the other player defected while they cooperated. Our findings suggest that more sophisticated moral reasoning and moral competence promote the maintenance of cooperative behaviors despite facing adverse situations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T22:55:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-91884ae94f39455d8e797a448a35f83e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T22:55:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-91884ae94f39455d8e797a448a35f83e2023-03-22T11:18:38ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-03-0113111110.1038/s41598-023-30314-7Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemmaRubén Andrés Miranda-Rodríguez0Iwin Leenen1Hyemin Han2Germán Palafox-Palafox3Georgina García-Rodríguez4Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoEducational Psychology Program, University of AlabamaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoAbstract The level of moral development may be crucial to understand behavior when people have to choose between prioritizing individual gains or pursuing general social benefits. This study evaluated whether two different psychological constructs, moral reasoning and moral competence, are associated with cooperative behavior in the context of the prisoner's dilemma game, a two-person social dilemma where individuals choose between cooperation or defection. One hundred and eighty-nine Mexican university students completed the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2; measuring moral reasoning) and the Moral Competence Test (MCT) and played an online version of the prisoner’s dilemma game, once against each participant in a group of 6–10 players. Our results indicate that cooperative behavior is strongly affected by the outcomes in previous rounds: Except when both participants cooperated, the probability of cooperation with other participants in subsequent rounds decreased. Both the DIT-2 and MCT independently moderated this effect of previous experiences, particularly in the case of sucker-outcomes. Individuals with high scores on both tests were not affected when in previous rounds the other player defected while they cooperated. Our findings suggest that more sophisticated moral reasoning and moral competence promote the maintenance of cooperative behaviors despite facing adverse situations.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30314-7 |
| spellingShingle | Rubén Andrés Miranda-Rodríguez Iwin Leenen Hyemin Han Germán Palafox-Palafox Georgina García-Rodríguez Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma Scientific Reports |
| title | Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma |
| title_full | Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma |
| title_fullStr | Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma |
| title_short | Moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma |
| title_sort | moral reasoning and moral competence as predictors of cooperative behavior in a social dilemma |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30314-7 |
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