Sanctioning systems, decision frames, and cooperation

Three studies are used to examine how surveillance and sanctioning systems affect cooperative behavior in dilemma situations. The first two studies de monstrate that a weak sanctioning system results in less cooperation than n o sanctioning system; furthermore, results from the second study suggest th at sanctions affect the type of decision people perceive they are making, p rompting them to see it as a business rather than an ethical decision. The results from these studies are used to develop a theoretical model that pos tulates that the relationship between sanctions and cooperation is due to b oth a signaling effect, in which sanctions influence the type of decision t hat is perceived to be made, and a processing effect, in which the decision processing, including whether or not the strength of the sanction is consi dered, depends on the decision frame evoked. A third study provides support for the processing-effect hypothesis.