The provision of a sanctioning system as a public good
J. Pers. Soc. Psychol., 51 (1):
110--116 (1986)Abstract
Discusses the limitations of the rational-structural and goal/expectation approaches to the problem of public goods (PGs), presents a new approach—the structural goal/expectation approach—intended to overcome these limitations, and tested 4 predictions derived from the new approach in a study of 48 4-person groups of undergraduates. According to this new approach, members who have realized the undesirable consequence of free riding and the importance of mutual cooperation will cooperate to establish a sanctioning system that assures other members' cooperation instead of trying to induce other members into mutual cooperation directly through cooperative actions. One important condition for their voluntary cooperation in the establishment of a sanctioning system is their realization that voluntarily based cooperation is impossible. In the study, each member of the group was given resource money that they could keep for themselves or contribute to the provision of a PG. The increase in the personal benefit due to one's contribution was reduced to zero, and Ss were not allowed to see each other in person. Some groups were given opportunities to develop a negative sanctioning system that punished the least cooperative group member. The level of punishment depended on the total amount of contribution made by the group members to the sanctioning system, which was separate from the contribution to the original PG. Results support the approach's predictions. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)