Preschoolers are sensitive to free riding in a public goods game

17Citations
Citations of this article
59Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Despite the benefits of cooperation, selfish individuals often produce outcomes where everyone is worse off. This "tragedy of the commons" has been demonstrated experimentally in adults with the public goods game. Contributions to a public good decline over time due to free-riders who keep their endowments. Little is known about how children behave when confronted with this social dilemma. Forty-eight preschoolers were tested using a novel non-verbal procedure and simplified choices more appropriate to their age than standard economic approaches. The rate of cooperation was initially very low and rose in the second round for the girls only. Children were affected by their previous outcome, as they free rode more after experiencing a lower outcome compared to the other group members. © 2014 Vogelsang, Jensen, Kirschner, Tennie and Tomasello.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Vogelsang, M., Jensen, K., Kirschner, S., Tennie, C., & Tomasello, M. (2014). Preschoolers are sensitive to free riding in a public goods game. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(JUL). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00729

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free