Race and Behavior in the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

Abstract

2 groups of female Ss—20 white and 20 black—played 100 trials of the PDG. Within each group, half the Ss played in a dyad where the other was represented as being of their own race, and half played in a dyad where the other was represented as being of the other race. Thus 4 experimental groups were employed: WWS, where white Ss played a white other; BBS, where black Ss played a black other; WBS, where white Ss played a black other; and BWS, where black Ss played a white other. Significant differences in competitive behavior (at odds with earlier research findings) were found as follows: BWS > WWS, BWS > BBS, BWS > WBS, and BBS > WBS. The findings are interpreted as indicating a new willingness on the part of the black American to compete on an equal footing with his white counterpart.