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Punishment works as well as rewards

To encourage people to cooperate in a group they can choose to either punish or reward certain behaviors. Researchers from the department of Social and Organizational Psychology discovered that these incentives work best when someone has to pay a price to punish or reward another person.

This is because the person who punishes or rewards anothers behavior displays concern for the common good.  Someone who gives a lot to punish or to reward sacrifices himself a bit for the group, and that way shows that cooperation is very important for the realization of the group goal. When people get punished or rewarded this way, there is a greater chance that they will begin to cooperate.  These subjects were discussed at the International Conference of Social Dilemmas.  From July 6-9 scientists from all over the world came together to exchange ideas about all aspects and implications of cooperation in social dilemma’s.

For more information see the social dilemma website.