The ultimatum game helps us to compare competitive/cooperative behaviour across cultures.
We discussed the ultimatum game after trying it ourselves.
What counts as a fair proposal? Why?
10/10 because you get half each. - Elise
It's fair to try to get a bit more. Often people will accept that because they're still getting a decent amount, e.g. 12/8, 9/11, 13/7. - Bella
10/10 or 11/9 are fair because you get the same or almost the same amount each. - Lilah
1/19 might be fair if the responder is poor. - Anna
10/10 is fair because then there will be no arguments. It would be silly to reject that because you're throwing money away. - Marcus
Why are some offers rejected? Isn't getting anything better than getting nothing?
If the proposal is too competitive and greedy, it might get rejected. If you're only losing a dollar, why not make the other person get nothing? - Olivia
If they get 19 and you get 1, rejecting it is like revenge for them giving you such a bad offer. - Lola
Some people reject it because they don't think before they act. They feel annoyed, so they reject it. If they thought it through, it might be better to accept it and get $3, even if the other person gets $17. - Zen
It might stop them being greedy in future. They might learn their lesson. - Max Ha.
Some people have rejected 10/10. Maybe they really don't want the proposer to get anything at all. - Lilly
If you're the responder, you might not care about making money. You'd rather make the proposer not get anything. - Sophia
Some offers are rejected because you'll be getting no money and the proposer is getting heaps. It's unfair. It's better to make it fair and both be poor. - Gabby
What might be the most effective proposal to make in order to get as much money as possible?
Most people won't accept you getting 18 and them getting 2, so only go a few dollars higher than 10. - William
They get 6 and you get 14 because they probably won't accept less than that. - Caitlin
11/9 would be good because it's only one dollar higher. They might think it's still fair. - Lilah
The ultimatum game has been studied in places with different cultures. Compare and contrast these results:
Low Offers - People compete to get as much as they can for themselves.
Machigeunga of Peru offer 25% on average. Only 4% of offers are rejected. They offer little and expect little and they make their livings independently. (Greene, 2013, p.72)
What might it feel like to live in a highly competitive society?
It sounds quite harsh. - Zen
You have to take what you get. - Lola
If somebody starts being really greedy and you accept it, if you start being greedy as well, they'll accept it too. The greed spreads. - Mackenzie
Some people would find themselves lower down than others just because they're kinder. - Caitlin
It would be awful if you were a beggar because you'd get no money. We think it's not as equal as New Zealand because they offer only$5 where we offer 50/50. - Reuben and Anthony
If you didn't have much money and everyone else had heaps, it would be really horrible. There'd be no way for you to get what they had. - Brie and Phoenix
It's not fair because if you're doing business with someone who's a lot smarter than you, then they'll probably know what a good offer would be. They'll know whether to reject it or accept it. The smarter people will take advantage of the others. - Olivia and Amber
It would feel horrible because if all they focus on is competition, they might forget about friendships and fairness and things like that. - Max He.
Sometimes it would be nice. You could have competitions that are really fun that we're not allowed to do here. Things like pillow fights at school because there's more of a competitive culture. Sometimes it wouldn't be nice because things might get rough. - Zara
Friendly competitions would be fun. Sometimes it would be horrible because everything would get serious. Everything would be a competition. - Elise
Because Peru is a poorer country and they don't have as much, they need to compete. Otherwise, they'd be left with not enough to get by. That might be why they make such small offers. - Bella
When we went to Bali, two shops were selling identical pairs of jandals. The salespeople kept offering lower prices and competing with each other for our money. The price dropped to almost nothing. - Bella
That would be cool because you'd get low prices. It would also be scary because they shout at each other. - Ashley
In a competitive society, you have to offer something unique so you're not in direct competition. - Harry
People might lie and claim another store is selling it for cheaper. - Elise
Generous Offers
Arche of Paraguay and the Lamelara of Indonesia offer over 50% on average. All offers are accepted. The Lamelara work together to hunt whales. (Greene, 2013, p.72)
What might it feel like to live in a highly cooperative (uncompetitive) society?
They don't just think of themselves and their own family. They think of others as well. They think of how they're going to live. They only take what they need, even though they might have less money than other countries. - Jordi and Max
There wouldn't be beggars because it would be fair. If people are giving away more, others would also be generous. - Connor and Ben
Maybe because they give more, they're all really close. They probably have strong friendships and they worry about their entire community. - Olivia
They're really fair. They're not being selfish. They're caring about others. - Samantha
It would be easier than competing and living independently. You'd have other people to help you and you'd all work together. - Amber
Happy, because you're all working together. If you needed a sick day, someone would pitch in for you. - Harry
It'd be cool because if you need milk, someone would probably be like, "Do you need some money for milk?" if you don't have it. - Mitchell
They'd probably all be very close because they're working together. You could ask your neighbour to lend you milk or eggs or anything. They would probably share a lot. - Bella
I wouldn't like living in a place like that because I think it's good to have some competition sometimes. Everyone would just be saying yes to things. You couldn't really debate because everyone would have the same opinion. - Zara
If you moved to another country, it would be very different. You'd be used to everyone saying yes, but then you'd suddenly have to deal with people not being cooperative. - Sophia
Greene, J. (2013). Moral Tribes. London: Atlantic Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment