A Classification of Social Dilemma Games

Many important human decisions occur in settings in which there is a strong interdependence between ont’s ~v~rn and others ’ out-comes. In such instances an actor’s decision affects both the actor’s outcomes and those of other persons. Common examples of such social interdependence can be found in making decisions in such diverse issues as beginning or ending interpersonal rela-tionships, the procreatiop of children, pollution control man-agement, and the use of commonly owned resourœs’Such as fresh water supplies and fossil fuels. An important subclass of interde-pendence situations is found in those settings in which persons, by pursuing immediate self-interest, can harm their own group’s interest (Hardin, 1968; Olson, 1965; Platt, 1973). These situations have been called Social trap~ ’ {Platt, 1973), ’tragedy of the com-mons ’ (Hardin, 1968), ~l/Nth situations ’ (Meux, 1973), and ’social dilemmas’(Dawes, 1975). In the present research, the term ’social dilemmas ’ will be used. Social dilemmas have been defined by Dawes (1975) as situa-tions in which (1) each person has available a dominating stra-AUTHOR NOTE: The rewarch reported here was partially supported by