Addressing Social Dilemmas and Fostering Cooperation through Computer Games

Abstract

The concept of social dilemmas can be used to understand social situations all around us. I am looking at identity formation to help understand why people make the decisions they do in a social dilemma and whether the explicit knowledge of being in these situations help steer them to cooperate within their social groups. First I describe a previous study which clearly demonstrates the need to think about identity deeply and to think of decision-making as happening within specific social contexts. Then I describe on-going ethnographic, action research with a guild in World of Warcraft. I am hoping to get an insight into how social norms of the guild, and game in general, can support cooperative behavior. I discover that I must do this through collaborative community management in order to legitimately participate and influence the guild.