punishment and rewards Flashcards
Is punishing the same as influencing?
no, punishing someone does not automatically mean you can influence them
Formalized sanctions
General rules that apply to everyone (grants, taxes)
Why can we use sanctions?
- to motivate people that are not intrinsically motivated
- to attain collective goals
- to make people comply to goals/rules/norms
What are Public Goods Games used for?
To study why people cooperate or not
What happens if you contribute to the community and others defects (public goods game)
you can lose something
Frree-rider
if everyone cooperates except one person, this person profits without cooperating
Cooperating can’t be explained by
- reciprocity
- reputation
- evolutionary theory
If a person free-rides, what happens in the next round of the public goods game?
people coorperate less
What happens when punishments are installed in the public goods game?
cooperation increases
What type of punishment is a punishment during a public goods game?
informal, decentralized and self-organised
What works better for enhancing cooperation: punishment or rewards (in social dilemma game)
they both work, medium effect size for both
Is it a social dilemma when there are rewards?
No, it is not really about the two basic choices (self interest versus collective interest) anymore
What happens to the level of cooperation when participants are in pluriform (diverse) groups?
Cooperation drops because of the ingroup versus outgroup feeling
What are the differences in punishment for ingroup and outgroup?
Outgroup members are punished more severely and more frequently
Can rewards have negative effect on intrinsic motivation?
yes
What types of reward do not have a negative effect on intrinsic motivaton?
- positive feedback
- unexpected and not task contingent rewards
What is the effect of rewards on extrinsic motivation?
Extrinsic motivation can increase, people make choices because of the reward
What happens when you remove a sanction system?
Cooperation drops because people do not trust that others are internally motivated to cooperate
What happens when you add moral appeals to social dilemmas?
Cooperation increases, even after the moral appeal is ‘removed’
As what kind of decision is a social dilemma perceived?
As an ethical decision
As what kind of decision is a social dilemma + weak punishment system perceived?
As a business decision (cost versus benefits)
What can happen when you add a punishment to a dilemma?
There can be an oppositie effect, it makes it feel like a business decision, people cooperate less because of it
What happens when a third option is added in social dilemmas?
The collective outcome may be worse, less people cooperate
2 motives to punish
- detterence motives
2. just-deserts motives
Deterrence motives
aim to deter future rule-breaking from all individuals through the installment of punishment (often done publicly)
Just-deserts motives
aim to achieve retributive justice by retroactively and proportionally punishing individual rule breakers (more fair and more private)
What kind of motive is mostly the one that guides punishments?
just-desert motives
Why do people in power use more deterrence motives for punishement?
Because they have more distrust (trust increases the vulnerability to potentially losing power to others)
What kind of motive for punishment do employees prefer?
just-desert motives
Do people prefer to punish or to reward?
People rather reward (cooperation) than punish (free-riding)
What is the effect of responsibility on punishing?
People that are individually responsible for punishment punish less
