WANT cooperation? Try rewarding the helpful rather than punishing wrongdoers.
In the public goods game, players choose whether or not to contribute money to a common pool, which is then redistributed equally. As playing groups change after every round, the temptation to freeload 鈥� to reap the rewards without contributing anything 鈥� often leads to a loss of cooperation. Previous research found this could be overcome if players were able to punish freeloaders.
David Rand and colleagues at Harvard University wanted to see if rewarding players had a similar effect. Participants were split into three experimental groups: one had the option of punishing freeloaders, another to reward contributors, while the third could choose to reward or punish. Each volunteer played with the same people every round.
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Rand found that rewarding people always gave the largest return, but if the players had the choice to punish or reward and chose to reward, they received bigger pay-offs (Science, ). 鈥淚t becomes in one鈥檚 self-interest to help the group,鈥� says Rand.