Interaction of Personality Traits on Behavioral Choices in Economic Games
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Yanna Weisberg
Location
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
Subject Area
Psychology
Description
Individuals’ reasons and motivations for volunteering (or not) often differ depending on their personality. Previous research has found that individuals with more “resilient” personalities are more likely to volunteer. (Zhao et al. 2016). Traits held by people who are considered good citizens, like politeness and honesty-humility, tend to further fair into cooperative behaviors that can lead to increases in volunteerism (Zhao et al. 2017).
Multiple papers have investigated the influence of personality traits on an individual’s behavior in various economic games such as the dictator game and prisoner’s dilemma. However, limited research has been conducted on the association between personality traits and the propensity to contribute within the volunteer’s dilemma game.
We aim to investigate how personality traits according to the Big Five framework predict decisions in the volunteer’s dilemma (n=400). By conducting an online survey, it was found that choice to contribute was highly influenced by what the player thought most people in the game do, higher scorers on the VFI Values scale were more likely to contribute, as were those higher in Intellectual Curiosity, Anxiety (N) was associated with a decrease in contribution rates, and those higher in responsibility (C) were less likely to contribute.
Recommended Citation
Pillon, Maya and Fiocchi, Maggie, "Interaction of Personality Traits on Behavioral Choices in Economic Games" (2022). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 26.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2022/all/26
Interaction of Personality Traits on Behavioral Choices in Economic Games
Jereld R. Nicholson Library: Grand Avenue
Individuals’ reasons and motivations for volunteering (or not) often differ depending on their personality. Previous research has found that individuals with more “resilient” personalities are more likely to volunteer. (Zhao et al. 2016). Traits held by people who are considered good citizens, like politeness and honesty-humility, tend to further fair into cooperative behaviors that can lead to increases in volunteerism (Zhao et al. 2017).
Multiple papers have investigated the influence of personality traits on an individual’s behavior in various economic games such as the dictator game and prisoner’s dilemma. However, limited research has been conducted on the association between personality traits and the propensity to contribute within the volunteer’s dilemma game.
We aim to investigate how personality traits according to the Big Five framework predict decisions in the volunteer’s dilemma (n=400). By conducting an online survey, it was found that choice to contribute was highly influenced by what the player thought most people in the game do, higher scorers on the VFI Values scale were more likely to contribute, as were those higher in Intellectual Curiosity, Anxiety (N) was associated with a decrease in contribution rates, and those higher in responsibility (C) were less likely to contribute.
