Seeking the comparative advantage: The dynamics of individual cooperation in single vs. multiple-team environments

Social dilemma studies predict that people will withhold cooperation from their teammates. Small group studies show that competition between teams increases cooperation among teammates. In this study, the two theories are integrated to show how performance comparisons with members of another team increase or decrease cooperation in an intra-team social dilemma. 111 MBA and undergraduate students participated in a laboratory experiment that finds that comparison of performance across competitive teams generates cooperation when the comparison is favorable. A computer simulation identifies decisions processes, finding partial support for comparative information across teams acting to reinforce cooperation. It also indicates that personal consistency accounts for parts of the decision process. These processes operate in the form of a rule called Win-Stay/Lose-Revert.