The role of situational cues in increasing the probability of cooperative behavior in eight situations: a test of the synergy hypothesis

Abstract

The synergy hypothesis emerged from research under the rubric of "mixed-motive dilemmas" and from the recognition that groups tend not to cooperate unless induced to do so. The synergy hypothesis postulates that cooperative cues function to support and reinforce one another so when combined their overall cooperative utility is greater than the sum of the utilities of the single cues. To test the synergy postulate, it was hypothesized that the situation with three cooperative cues would provide a situation that functioned to increase the probability of cooperative behavior to a greater degree than the situations with two cooperative cues, which would provide a situation that functioned to increase the probability of cooperative behavior to a greater degree than the situations with either one or no cooperative cues. Using a potentially intense conflict simulation game and the cooperative cues of trust, equality, and accountability, three sets of analyses tested the synergy hypothesis. The first analysis tested the importance of the number of cues. Chi-square tests showed that the three cue situation promoted more cooperative resolutions to the experimental game than the no cue situation but not significantly more cooperative resolutions than the two cue situations. The second analysis tested the integrative effect of the cues. A 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA with each cue serving as a factor showed the triple interaction to be only marginally significant (p < .08), and the pattern of means underlying the interaction was not as predicted. The third set of analyses tested the utility of the cues. MDF analyses showed that trust and equality functioned both cooperatively and noncooperatively, as predicted by the synergy hypothesis, as a function of the cue's embedded context. Accountability served as a generally cooperative cue across all contexts. Results were discussed in terms of the status of the synergy hypothesis as a group process phenomenon and its limitations were noted. Directions for future reseach were suggested.