The Effect Of Distributive Fairness On Cooperative Behavior In Social Dilemmas:Tradeoffs Between Fairness And Self-Benefits

When it comes to resource allocation,the question of trade-offs between fairness and self-benefit cannot be avoided.In numerous disciplines as well as in real life,there are discussions about whether individuals prefer fairness or self-benefit.The old saying “Worry about unequal distributive outcome rather than poverty” implies that people prefer fairness of outcome.In line with this old saying,numerous empirical studies have shown that fairness is the key antecedent to promote subsequent cooperation.However,the existing studies on the relationship between distributive fairness and cooperation have mainly used the willingness or attitude to cooperate as indicators,and focused on the comparison of the effects between fairness(i.e.,the same as others)and disadvantageous unfairness(i.e.,less than others).It is still not clear whether advantageous unfairness(i.e.,more than others)would affect cooperation,which makes it difficult to understand tradeoffs between fairness and self-benefit in cooperation decision-making.Furthermore,to date,the underlying mediating and moderating mechanisms in the relationship between distributive fairness and cooperative behavior remain unclear.To this end,the present study aims to systematically explore the effects,mechanisms and boundaries of the distributive fairness — cooperative behavior link,by using the dictator game to manipulate distributive fairness(fair outcome vs.disadvantageous unfair outcome vs.advantageous unfair outcome)and using the chicken game to measure cooperative behavior.The present study consists of three sub-studies.Study 1 aims to address the problem of whether distributive fairness would affect cooperative behavior.That is,Study 1 is designed to explore the tradeoffs between fairness and self-benefit in cooperation decision-making by comparing the difference in cooperative behavior under three distributive fairness conditions(i.e.,fair outcome,disadvantageous unfair outcome,and advantageous unfair outcome).Before the formal experiments,we conduct a pre-experiment to define the three distributive fairness conditions.Specifically,pre-experiment investigates participants' fairness perceptions of continuously transformed distribution scheme in a virtual distribution scenario,which is created based on the modified dictator game.Based on the results of the pre-experiment,we define allocation “1:1”,allocation “1:3”,and allocation “3:1” as fair outcome,disadvantageous unfair outcome,and advantageous unfair outcome respectively.Experiment 1 uses a one-factor within-subject design to explore participants' cooperative behavior in the chicken game after experiencing these three types of distributive fairness in a virtual two-person interaction scenario.Experiment2 further uses a one-factor between-subject design to explore the effect of distributive fairness on cooperative behavior in a real two-person scenario and examine the reliability of the results of Experiment 1.Study 2 aims to address the problem of how distributive fairness affects cooperative behavior.That is,on the basis of Study 1 and the relevant theories of distributive fairness,Study 2 is designed to explore the mediating role of norm expectation and positive emotion in the relationship between distributive fairness and cooperative behavior.Specifically,Experiment 3 explores whether norm expectation and positive emotion affect the distributive fairness —cooperative behavior link by using behavioral experimental techniques.Based on Experiment 3,Experiment 4 further explores whether distributive fairness affects FRN component which represents norm expectation and P300 component which represents positive emotion to provide evidence from neural processes,by using event-related potential(ERP)experimental techniques.Study 3 aims to address the problem of when distributive fairness affects cooperative behavior.That is,on the basis of Study 1 and 2,Study 3 is designed to explore the moderating mechanism of the distributive fairness — cooperative behavior link.Given the fact that the social value orientation,a stable individual character,affects tradeoffs between fairness and self-benefits,Experiment 5 uses the triple dominance matrix to measure social value orientation and explores its role in the distributive fairness — cooperative behavior link.Given the fact that resource allocation usually involves the context to allocate loss and the loss allocation context remains less studied,Experiment 6 investigates the role of gain-loss allocation context in the effect of distributive fairness on cooperative behavior.The main findings of the present study are as follows:(1)Participants cooperate most after experiencing fair outcome(i.e.,the same as others,allocation 1:1),followed by the advantageous unfair outcome(i.e.,more than others,allocation 3:1),and they cooperate least after experiencing disadvantageous unfair outcome(i.e.,less than others,allocation 1:3).(2)Distributive fairness affects cooperative behavior by affecting norm expectation and positive emotion in parallel(distributive fairness ?norm expectation ? cooperative behavior;distributive fairness ? positive emotion? cooperative behavior).That is,fair(vs.advantageous unfair)outcome increases cooperative behavior by enhancing norm expectation and positive emotion,and the norm expectation path prevails(relative mediating effect: norm expectation > positive emotion).At the same time,disadvantageous(vs.advantageous)unfair outcome decreases cooperative behavior by reducing norm expectation and positive emotion,and the positive emotion path prevails(relative mediating effect: positive emotion >norm expectation).(3)Distributive fairness affects cooperative behavior by influencing norm expectation and positive emotions in a serial way(i.e.,distributive fairness ? norm expectation ? positive emotion ? cooperative behavior).That is,fair(vs.advantageous unfair)outcome enhances norm expectation and hence increases positive emotion,which subsequently promotes cooperative behavior.At the same time,disadvantageous(vs.advantageous)unfair outcome reduces norm expectation and hence decreases positive emotion,which subsequently hinders cooperative behavior.(4)The ERP components(i.e.,FRN and P300)are influenced by distributive fairness and predict cooperative behavior.As for FRN amplitudes,those elicited by fair outcome are the largest,followed by advantageous unfair outcome,and those elicited by disadvantageous unfair outcome are the smallest.As for P300 amplitudes,those elicited by advantageous unfair outcome are the largest,followed by fair outcome,and those elicited by disadvantageous unfair outcome are the smallest.Moreover,in each distributive fairness condition,the FRN amplitudes not only are positively correlated with norm expectation and cooperative behavior but also positively predict these two variables,while the P300 amplitudes not only are positively correlated with positive emotion and cooperative behavior but also positively predict these two variables.(5)Social value orientation moderates the mediating mechanism of the distributive fairness — cooperative behavior link.For the pro-socials,distributive fairness influences cooperative behavior by affecting both norm expectation and positive emotion.And norm expectation is the dominant path in the effects of fair(vs.advantageous unfair)outcome on cooperative behavior,while positive emotion is the dominant path in the effects of disadvantageous(vs.advantageous)unfair outcome on cooperative behavior.For the pro-selfs,fair(vs.advantageous unfair)outcome increases cooperative behavior merely by enhancing norm expectation.At the same time,disadvantageous(vs.advantageous)unfair outcome decreases cooperative behavior by reducing norm expectation and positive emotion,with the norm expectation being the dominant path(relative mediating effect:norm expectation > positive emotion).(6)The gain-loss context moderates the mediating mechanism of the distributive fairness — cooperative behavior link.In the gain context,distributive fairness influences cooperative behavior by affecting both norm expectation and positive emotion.And norm expectation is the dominant path in the effects of fair(vs.advantageous unfair)outcome on cooperative behavior,while positive emotion is the dominant path in the effects of disadvantageous(vs.advantageous)unfair outcome on cooperative behavior.In the loss context,fair(vs.advantageous unfair)outcome increases cooperative behavior merely by enhancing norm expectation.At the same time,disadvantageous(vs.advantageous)unfair outcome decreases cooperative behavior by reducing norm expectation and positive emotion,with the norm expectation being the dominant path(relative mediating effect:norm expectation > positive emotion).The present study further complements the classical assertion that “Worry about unequal distributive outcome rather than poverty”,by revealing the fairness priority effect in cooperation decision-making process.To be more specific,participants' cooperative behavior after experiencing three distributive fairness conditions is driven by the preference for fairness first.Once,participants fail to encounter a fair outcome,their cooperative behavior is driven by the preference for self-benefits.Moreover,it proves that norm expectation and positive emotion are the vital factors that accounting the fairness priority effect in cooperation decision-making.At the same time,it is found that social value orientation or gain-loss context affects the mediating mechanism of the distributive fairness — cooperative behavior link rather than the direct effect of distributive fairness on cooperative behavior,suggesting the fairness priority effect in cooperation decision-making process again.In sum,the present study supports the perspective of bounded rationality of cooperation to some extent,enriches and complements the cognition-emotion interactive perspective of the effect of distributive fairness,and provide guidance for the practice how to promote effective cooperation in real life.