INTERINDIVIDUAL-INTERGROUP DISCONTINUITY IN THE PRISONERS-DILEMMA GAME

The present research involved an examination of interindividual-interg roup discontinuity in the context of three different generalizations o f the prisoner's dilemma game (PDG). (Interindividual-intergroup disco ntinuity is the tendency of intergroup relations to be more competitiv e and less cooperative than interindividual relations.) Experiment 1 u sed a multi-prisoner's dilemma (MPD) game to compare interaction betwe en three individuals with interaction between three groups. Results re vealed just as much discontinuity between three players (MPD) as betwe en two players (PDG). Experiment 2 used the approach of n-person games to examine two further generalizations from the PDG. One generalizati on involved the intergroup public goods (IPG) game, and the other the intergroup prisoner's dilemma (IPD) game. With both games, it was foun d that groups were more competitive than individuals. It was also foun d that discussion between groups is characterized by a higher frequenc y of fear and greed statements than is discussion between individuals.