The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma
<p>In the standard volunteer’s dilemma (VoD), a single prosocial act (i.e., volunteering) yields the optimal overall outcome. Whereas the volunteer’s outcome is certain, the defector’s outcome depends on what others do. This research addressed the confounding of p...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publications
2022
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| _version_ | 1811139456465371136 |
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| author | Villiger, D Ullrich, J Krueger, JI |
| author_facet | Villiger, D Ullrich, J Krueger, JI |
| author_sort | Villiger, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>In the standard volunteer’s dilemma (VoD), a single prosocial act (i.e., volunteering) yields the optimal overall outcome. Whereas the volunteer’s outcome is certain, the defector’s outcome depends on what others do. This research addressed the confounding of prosocial responses with uncertainty avoidance in the standard VoD. In Experiment 1, participants (<em>N</em> = 102) considered 18 hypothetical one-shot two-person VoD scenarios with certain, risky, and uncertain outcomes when volunteering. In Experiment 2, participants (<em>N</em> = 496) considered three hypothetical one-shot two-person VoD scenarios; a certain VoD and two uncertain VoDs of which one had a lower expected collective outcome of volunteering than the certain VoD and the other a higher one. Results suggest that volunteering does not reflect a desire to avoid uncertainty but to maximize expected collective outcomes, reinforcing the assumption that the high volunteering rates we see in a standard VoD are due to social/moral preferences and social projection.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:06:23Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:0fd67b81-7923-450e-8e5c-aa6c251099de |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:06:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:0fd67b81-7923-450e-8e5c-aa6c251099de2024-06-03T13:08:00ZThe role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemmaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0fd67b81-7923-450e-8e5c-aa6c251099deEnglishSymplectic ElementsSAGE Publications2022Villiger, DUllrich, JKrueger, JI<p>In the standard volunteer’s dilemma (VoD), a single prosocial act (i.e., volunteering) yields the optimal overall outcome. Whereas the volunteer’s outcome is certain, the defector’s outcome depends on what others do. This research addressed the confounding of prosocial responses with uncertainty avoidance in the standard VoD. In Experiment 1, participants (<em>N</em> = 102) considered 18 hypothetical one-shot two-person VoD scenarios with certain, risky, and uncertain outcomes when volunteering. In Experiment 2, participants (<em>N</em> = 496) considered three hypothetical one-shot two-person VoD scenarios; a certain VoD and two uncertain VoDs of which one had a lower expected collective outcome of volunteering than the certain VoD and the other a higher one. Results suggest that volunteering does not reflect a desire to avoid uncertainty but to maximize expected collective outcomes, reinforcing the assumption that the high volunteering rates we see in a standard VoD are due to social/moral preferences and social projection.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Villiger, D Ullrich, J Krueger, JI The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma |
| title | The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma |
| title_full | The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma |
| title_fullStr | The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma |
| title_short | The role of certainty in a two-person volunteer’s dilemma |
| title_sort | role of certainty in a two person volunteer s dilemma |
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