A Multidisciplinary Approach Towards Understanding and Solving Social Dilemmas

Social dilemmas are ubiquitous and are characterized by conflicts of interest between the individual and group, the individual and society, and the group and society. Social dilemmas also encompass choices between obtaining an immediate reward and thereby incurring a later and lethal consequence. Most urgent societal problems, viz. economic development vs. fossil fuels depletion, the use of carbon-emitting vehicles vs. climate change, inter alia, result from such dilemmas. Investigators are invited to submit articles from diverse fields such as economics, psychology, biology, and sociology that have focused on various facets of social dilemmas including people’s behavior regarding policy making and their motivations underpinning attitudes towards social dilemmas. From a classical economic perspective, an agent’s behavior in solving social dilemmas will aim towards maximizing their own self-interests. On the other hand, psychologists question the classical economic perspective that individuals act purely from self-interest and indeed, they observe that people often approach social dilemmas with the goal towards cooperation and showing empathy for their counterparts as well as revealing substantial group identity. Evolutionary biologists also propose that individuals develop a collective-interest strategy towards social dilemmas if it benefits their offspring’s survival according to Hamilton’s Theory of Inclusive Fitness. This research provides deep insights into human behavior regarding solving problems involving social dilemmas.

Nevertheless, despite an abundance of multidisciplinary research, there remains an absence of a unifying theoretical framework that provides a fully satisfying understanding of social dilemmas. Hence, it behooves scholars in this field to continue to undertake more empirical studies towards gaining a more complete theoretical underpinning of social dilemmas. The research topic we are proposing aims to encourage the participation of investigators across disciplines ranging from biology to economics and everything in between, thus realizing a more profound and insightful comprehension of social dilemmas.

We welcome all types of research articles, including but not limited to theory, reviews, laboratory experiments, field experiments, imaging experiments, and computer simulations. The research may include subjects from diverse populations, viz. children, adults, elderly, different cultural backgrounds, as well as participants with minor and major mental disorders. All types of submissions including original research, systematic reviews, brief research reports, and case reports that are relevant to the main research topic, and extend our understanding of social dilemmas, are invited.