Social Decision Making: Classic Issues and Current Debates

							              Social Decision Making: Classic Issues and Current Debates


Teacher

Carsten K.W. De Dreu

Professor of Organizational Psychology
Phone +31 20 525 6865
Email: c.k.w.dedreu@uva.nl
Office: A7.24
Secretariat: Joke Vermeulen (Room A.7.19; Phone +31 20 525 6860)

Goals
The seminar has three goals:
      1. To learn about core topics in social decision making research, as it is being
          conducted in social and organizational psychology, behavorial economics, and
          computational sciences
      2. To stimulate current research and theory development by debating core issues
          in social decision making, and by preparing Research Papers
      3. To learn to present, in writing and orally, research ideas.

Overview
The focus of this course is on those situations where people make decisions, individually
or as a group, that affect not only their own outcomes, but those of interdependent others
as well. While this type of decision is core in organizations (e.g., leader-follower relations;
team work), understanding the basic psychological mechanisms has wider implications and
pertains to family situations, hooligans, community governance, politicians, and so on. We
consider in depth various research paradigms, including two-person and N-person social
dilemmas (including computer simulations), ultimatum bargaining and multi-issue
negotiation, social decision schemes and information pooling models. We examine these
situations from four distinct and mutually compatible orientations on social decision
making – a behavioral economists model on incentive-based strategizing, an evolutionary
model on cooperative choice, an organizational behavior/decision making model on
cognitive deficits and bounded rationality, and an integrative, social psychological model
on motivated information processing.

The course is taught on Tuesday afternoon (1 – 3PM, Room A703). In each meeting, I will
give an introductory lecture, followed by in-depth discussion of review and research
articles. Students are expected to have studied the literature in advance.

Except for the first meeting, we will have per meeting one pair of students who together
prepares and facilitates the discussion around one (set of) paper(s) by summarizing orally
the main issues, and by preparing discussion questions for the seminar. The student pairs
and their topics will be announced during the first meeting.
Research Papers
You are expected to prepare one research paper, which introduces a research problem and
reviews relevant (research) literatures—in addition to the literature provided here below, I
expect you to find and include at least two relevant empirical research papers. The research
paper ends with a proposal for a research method (design, measures, research population,
procedure) and a set of testable hypotheses. Each paper is about 10 page APA-style (2500
– 3000 words), not counting title page, literature references and Tables and/or Figures.

Literature
For each seminar a selection of required readings is made (see below for precise
references). Articles can be downloaded, or found in the Pierson Library. In addition, clean
copies for xeroxing are available at the secretariat.
                                    Program Overview

1.      Social Decision Making Structures and Interaction Patterns
       Tuesday October 31, 2006.
       13 – 15, Room A.703

       Interdependence Theory
       Social Decision Making Games
       Individual vs. Collective Rationality
       Evolution of Cooperation; Tit-for-Tat; Reciprocity; Noise and Forgiveness

Literature

Axelrod, R., & Dion, D. (1988). The further evolution of cooperation. Science, 242, 1385 –
242.

Colman, A.M. (2003). Cooperation, psychological game theory, and limitations of
rationality in social interaction. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 26, 139 – 198. (including
commentaries, which are optional).

Penner, L.A., Dovidio, J.F., Piliavin, J.A., & Schroeder, D.A. (2005). Prosocial behavior:
Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365 – 392.

Van Lange, P.A.M., Ouwerkerk, J.W., & Tazelaar, M.J.A. (2002). How to overcome the
detrimental effects of noise in social interaction: The benefits of generosity. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 768 – 780.

Weber, J.M., Kopelman, S., & Messick, D.M. (2004). A conceptual review of decision
making in social dilemmas: Applying a logic of appropriateness. Personality and Social
Psychology Review, 8, 281 – 307.


2.     Fairness and Power in Social Decision Making
       Tuesday November 7, 2006.
       9 – 11, Room A.703

       Distributive vs. Procedural Fairness
       Power and Social influence

Literature

Colquitt, J.A., Conlon, D.E., Wesson, M.J., Porter, C.O.L.H., & Ng. K.Y. (2001). Justice
at the millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 425 – 445.
Galinsky, A.D., Gruenfeld, D.H., & Magee, J.E. (2003). From power to action. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 453 – 466.

Gardner, W.L., & Seeley, E.A. (2001). Confucius, “Jen” and the benevolent use of power:
The interdependent self as a psychological contract preventing exploitation. In A.Y., Lee-
Chai, and J. A. Bargh (Eds.). The use and abuse of power. New York: Psychology Press.

Pillutla, M.M., & Murnighan, J.K. (2003). Fairness in bargaining. Social Justice Research,
16, 241 – 262.

Van Dijk, E., De Cremer, D., & Handgraaf, M.J.J. (2004). Social value orientations and
the strategic use of fairness in ultimatum bargaining. Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 40, 697 – 707.


3.     Motivated-Cognition and Emotions in Negotiation and Group Decision Making
       Tuesday November 14, 2006.
       13 - 15, Room A.703

       Social Motivation, Lay Epistemic Theory
       Cognitive Heuristics and Biases; Motivated Reasoning
       Affect and Emotions

Literature

De Dreu, C.K.W., Beersma, B., Steinel, W., & Van Kleef, G.A. (in press). The psychology
of negotiation: Principles and basic processes. In A.W. Kruglanski & E.T. Higgins (Eds.),
Handbook of basic principles in social psychology (2nd edition). New York: Guilford.

Forgas, J.P., & Cromer, M. (2004). On being sad and evasive: Affective influences on
verbal communication strategies in conflict situations. Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 40, 511 – 518.

Golec, A., & Federico, C.M. (2004). Understanding responses to political conflict:
Interactive effects of need for closure and salient conflict schemas. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 87, 750 – 762.

Van Kleef, G.A., De Dreu, C.K.W., & Manstead, A.S.R. (2004). The interpersonal effects
of anger and happiness in negotiations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86,
57 – 76.

4.     Lying, Deception, and Reputation Effects
       Tuesday November 21, 2006.
       13 – 15, Room A.703

Literature
Boles, T.L., Croson, R.T.A., & Murnighan, J.K. (2000). Deception and retribution in
repeated ultimatum games. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 83,
253 – 259.

Steinel, W., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2004). Social motives and strategic misrepresentation
in social decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 419-434.

Tinsley, C.H., O’Connor, K.M., & Sullivan, B.A. (2002). Tough guys finish last: The
perils of a distributive reputation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 88, 621 – 642.


5.     Social Decision Making in Organizations (with Dr. Bianca Beersma)
       Tuesday November 28, 2006.
       13 – 15, Room A.703

       Conflict and Work Team Performance
       Altruism and Citizenship Behavior in Organization Theory

Literature

De Dreu, C.K.W., & Weingart, L.R. (2003). Task versus relationship conflict, team
performance, and team member satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology.

Jehn, K.A. & Bendersky, C. (2003). Intragroup conflict in organizations: A contingency
perspective on the conflict-outcome relationship. In B. Staw and R. Kramer, (Eds.)
Research in Organizational Behavior (vol. 25, pp. 187- 242). Oxford, UK: Elsevier.

Peterson, R.B., & Behfar, K.J. (2003). The dynamic relationship between performance
feedback, trust and conflict in groups: A longitudinal study. Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Processes, 92, 102-112.

6.     No Meeting (Preparing Research Paper)


7.     Cooperation and Competition Between Groups
       Tuesday December 12, 2005.
       13 – 15, Room A.703

       Individual-Group Discontinuity
       Inter-group Games
       Social Identity Theory

Literature
Bornstein, G. (2003). Intergroup conflict: Individual, group, and collective interests.
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 129 – 145.

Dovidio, J.F., Gaertner, S. L., & Validzic, A. (1998). Intergroup bias: Status,
differentiation, and a common in-group identity. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 75, 109 – 120.

Robinson, R.J., Keltner, D., Ward, A., & Ross, L. (1995). Actual versus assumed
differences in construal: “Naïve realism” in intergroup perception and conflict. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 404-417.

Wildschut, T., Pinter, B., Vevea, J.L., Insko, C.A., & Schopler, J. (2003). Beyond the
group mind: A quantitative review of the interindividual—intergroup discontinuity effect.
Psychological Bulletin, 129, 689 – 722.

8.     Oral Presentations of Research Paper
       Tuesday December 19, 2006.
       13 – 15, Room A.703


Deadline Research Paper – January 13, 2007. Send as email attachment to
c.k.w.dedreu@uva.nl