"Solving Social Dilemmas demonstrates that social, political, and economic progress occur when ethical dispositions evolve in a manner that solves or ameliorate social dilemmas. That same process can account for the emergence of prosperous societies in the West during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was substantially a consequence of increased moral support for commerce and careers in commerce that had emerged during the previous two centuries. To support these claims, two analytical histories are developed. The first uses elementary game theory to illustrate how critical social dilemmas can be solved by internalized ethical ideas about "proper" or "moral" conduct. That analytical history implies that in the absence of solutions to critical social dilemmas-of which there are many thousands-social, political, and economic development tends to be curtailed. The second analytical history surveys three centuries of ethical assessments concerning the proper role of commerce in a good life and good society. The authors reviewed all used economic illustrations to illustrate moral principles or how they may be applied. Because the illustrating examples are ones that their readers would have found "obvious," they shed light on the ethical dispositions in the communities to whom those works were addressed. Together, they reveal that concerns about the effects of market son ethical dispositions were diminishing during the centuries before the great acceleration of commerce in the nineteenth century. In fact, many of the authors reviewed argued that there was a complete harmony between ethical dispositions and commerce. Together the two narratives imply that shifts in norms directly and indirectly account for the relative prosperity of the West compared to other parts of the World during the twentieth century. It turns out that flourishing commercial societies have moral foundations"--

This book provides a theoretical, empirical, and pragmatic understanding of social dilemmas (SDs). A SD is a social situation where cooperation maximizing collective or social profit is different from defection maximizing individual profit. Problems arise when too many group members choose to pursue individual profit and immediate satisfaction rather than behave in the group’s best long-term interests. The problems include an environmental problem and various types of urban, economic, and political problems. Most books treating SDs are not monographs but are proceedings or omnibus volumes written by different researchers. Few monographs have been published for SDs, but those few deal only with basic theories and empirical findings. This book, by contrast, is a monograph by a single author and provides complete coverage from basic theories in Part I to applied theories and pragmatic solutions for urban, transportation, and environmental problems in Parts II and III. Various types of strategies are proposed in this book to overcome the problems caused by SDs in various situations based on the basic theories of those dilemmas. The strategies are psychological and structural ones. The book includes theories, empirical evidence in experiments, and practical policies in the real world for these strategies. Thus, the work effectively provides a bridge between basic behavioral scientists, applied behavioral scientists, and practitioners. With this useful source, basic scientists will understand how to apply their scientific knowledge to the real world and also will encounter new scientific problems that should be solved scientifically. Applied researchers and specialists will become familiar with new solutions through basic research on SDs and will be made aware of new pragmatic problems that should be solved with a practical approach.

This volume provides a psychological overview of research on human cooperation, while discussing evolutionary and cultural perspectives, along with applications in the management, environment, national security, and health.

This book describes the advances and insights made by social scientists from around the world into the understanding and resolution of social dilemmas. Each chapter discusses its own research findings against the background of a more comprehensive view of social dilemnas.

Readers need look no further if they seeking an edited volume compiled to present the latest developments in the field of social dilemma research. Social dilemmas are situations when there is a conflict between self-interest and collective interest. This work examines under what circumstances people make decisions that are in line with the collective interest as well as investigating what can increase the likelihood of cooperation. Three man sections mirror the different levels of analysis: individual, group, and societal.

A social dilemma is a game which at first glance has only inefficient solutions. If efficient solutions are to be achieved, some kind of cooperation among the players is required. This book asks two basic questions, closely intertwined with each other: 1. How is cooperation possible among rational players in such a social dilemma? Which changes in the social context of a social dilemma situation are necessary in order for players to rationally choose the cooperative option? 2. How do real players actually behave in social dilemma situations? Do they behave "rationally" at all? Or, conversely, what kind of reasoning, attitudes, emotions, etc. shape the behavior of real players in social dilemmas? What kind of interventions, what kind of internal mechanisms within a real group may change players' willingness to cooperate? These two general questions mark the broad spectrum of the problem which has been, over the last three decades, investigated in various disciplines, and which has brought many new ideas and new observations into the study of the old question of social order in a world of born egoists. Accordingly, this volume contains contributions by biologists, sociologists, political scientists, economists, mathematicians, psychologists, and philosophers.

Addresses a range of phenomena related to the general question of when people behave in an altruistic fashion. This book contains topics that include how empathy induced altruism can actually be a threat to the some larger collective good, and the role of egoism in the production and maintenance of social order.

Many of the key notions associated with spatial planning are essentially ’fuzzy’ in their nature. For example, while almost everyone accepts ’sustainability’ as an important goal of planning, the actions of the actors involved can render the achieved ’sustainability’ minimal, or even counterproductive. Putting forward an innovative way of looking at planning problems and policies, this volume suggests actor-consulting is important in addressing the fuzzy nature of planning. A tool to address differences in understanding, actor-consulting is based on an analysis of actor motives, perceptions and contributions. By inviting all actors to express their desired, actual and potential contributions to achieving an agreed outcome to a local policy issue, decision-makers have a means to develop their goals in line with the roles, motivation, perception and behaviour of the various actors involved. Including contributions from Patsy Healy, Johan Woltjer, Don Miller and Karel Martens, the book presents a variety of case studies which demonstrate the use of the actor-consulting model in addressing planning issues.

The frontal lobes and their functional properties are recognised as crucial to establishing our identity as autonomous human beings. This book provides a broad introductory overview of this unique brain region. In an accessible and readable style it covers the evolutionary significance of the frontal lobes, typical and atypical development pathways, the role played in normal cognition, memory and emotion, and in damaged states, resulting in a range of neurological syndromes and psychiatric disturbances. The coverage integrates current theoretical knowledge with observations of both normal and disturbed behaviour across the lifespan. The result is an easy to read review of this fascinating and involved field suitable for graduate students in neuropsychology and psychology, clinicians from the fields of neurology, neurosurgery or psychiatry, and researchers engaged in neuroscientific investigations.

Advances in Psychology Research