Social dilemmas

In social dilemma situations, each individual always receives a higher payo ff for defecting than for cooperating, but all are better off if all cooper ate than if all defect. Often, however, people in social dilemmas attend mo re to the group's payoffs than to their own, either automatically or to beh ave "appropriately." But whereas social identity elicits cooperative behavi our in dilemmas, it is generally only for the benefit of an "in-group." Dil emmas between groups (requiring self-sacrificial behaviour within) are ofte n the most extreme. Consequently, the framing and manipulation of group ide ntity is critical to cooperation rate as demonstrated by careful laboratory experimentation.