Effect of Partner’s Response and Comunication on Competitive and Cooperative Game Behaviour

In this study on the effect of communication on competitive and cooperative behaviour, 10 dyad groups and 10 groups of 3 members played the MDG, a non-zero sum game under communication after every 10th trial, and no communication conditions.It was concluded from results that communication, whether between groups or between representative of the groups, tends to increase a tendency of a person to change (feel repentant) from competitive moves to cooperative moves.The effect of partner's response or strategy was studied by playing the game under four conditions; the other player or group being (a) unilaterally cooperative; (b) unilaterally competitive; (c) reciprocating; and (d) response opposite to the subject.Analysis of results showed that unconditional cooperation leads to exploitation and obduracy.This tendency was less in groups.Other interesting effects are described in the paper.Cooperative behaviour has been defined in terms of sharing a goal and working for it with other individual(s), and competitive behaviour as working for the goal individually and blocking the other(s) from attaining the goal.Attention to the concept of cooperation was first paid by sociologists who defined it in social context.Later psychologists became interested in this area.Cooperation makes unified social attainment possible because it is a form of social action in which all participants are benefitted (almost equally) by attaining their goals.It usually refers to a style of behaviour characterized by fairness, equality and sharing (Kahn, Rottes & Davis, 1971).The initiation of cooperatIve behaviour requires trust, whenever an individual by virtue of choice to cooperative places his fate partly in the hands of others.In the cooperative situation the goals of the individuals are predominantly interdependent in which individuals are so linked together that there is a positive correlation between their goal attainments.Competition is the form of social interaction in which members strive or struggle against each other for the possession or use of some limited material or non-material goods.A competitive choice implies an attempt to block the other person from achieving a positive outcome (Zajonc, 1966) or it may be described as an effort to outdo the other person in achieving some mutually desired goal.Competition implies a reward that can be obtained only by one social uni t (a person, a segment of group, or an entire group).Competition gets its strength from the ego and social needs of the individual -----