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Rationality and Society, Vol. 17, No. 2, 243-270 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1043463105055431

Symmetry and the Illusion of Control as Bases for Cooperative Behavior

Jeffrey Goldberg

jeffrey{at}goldmark.org

Lívia Markoczy

A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California Riverside, livia{at}goldmark.org

G. Lawrence Zahn

A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California Riverside, lawrence.zahn{at}ucr.edu

The existence of cooperation in the face of temptation to free ride requires explanation. We discuss two psychological phenomena, ‘symmetry’ and ‘the illusion of control,’ which we believe underlie the ‘what if everyone acted that way’ type of reasoning used in some types of cooperation. We provide a simple model of how these lead to cooperation. We also show how some bizarre causal beliefs, such as effect preceding cause, can follow from these phenomena. We look at some existing evidence for these phenomena and report on our studies which support the model.

Key Words: cognitive illusions • Newcomb’s paradox • prisoners dilemmas


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