Communication and Cooperation in Social Dilemmas: A Meta-Analytic Review

Daniel Balliet
Additional contact information
Daniel Balliet: Singapore Management University, Singapore, dballiet@smu.edu.sg

Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2010, vol. 54, issue 1, 39-57

Abstract: Among the most researched solutions to social dilemmas is communication. Since the late 1950s, it has been well known that communication enhances cooperation in social dilemmas. This article reports a meta-analysis of this literature (forty-five effect sizes) and finds a large positive effect of communication on cooperation in social dilemmas ( d = 1.01). This effect is moderated by the type of communication, with a stronger effect of face-to-face discussion ( d = 1.21) compared to written messages ( d = 0.46). The communication-cooperation relationship is also stronger in larger, compared to smaller, group social dilemmas. Whether communication occurred before or during iterated dilemmas did not statistically affect the communication-cooperation effect size. Results are discussed according to theory and research on communication in social dilemmas.

Keywords: social dilemmas; communication; cooperation; conflict; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (84)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002709352443 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jocore:v:54:y:2010:i:1:p:39-57

DOI: 10.1177/0022002709352443

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Conflict Resolution from Peace Science Society (International)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().