The Sound of Silence in Prisoner’s Dilemma and Dictator Games
Author(s)
Bohnet, Iris; Frey, Bruno S.
Abstract
Communication allows the transfer of more information, leading to the spread of the distribution of choices other than the social norms. However, it is not always needed in contributing to public goods. While mutual identification contributes to an individual’s tendency to follow the social norms, the absence of dialogue or one-way identification can also give the same effect. Silent identification contributes to solidarity, whose increase, in turn, contributes to the decrease of social distance. The decrease in social distance implies the need for interaction-specific solutions to social problems.
