The Variance of the Display Regarding the Free Riders Effect within Collectivist and Individualist Individuals

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the difference in the display of free-riding behavior in individuals with collectivist orientations compared to those with individualistic orientations. Free riding refers to benefiting from a public good or resource without contributing one's fair share towards its provision. Understanding the influence of collectivism and individualism on free-riding behaviors has important implications for social cooperation, resource management, and the design of incentive structures. In this natural experiment, the independent variable (individuals' relative individualism-collectivism tendencies) and the dependent variable (free-rider behavior) measured by the frequency of in-game behaviors that advance the objective—are compared to see if they have any causal correlations. A sample of participants was recruited and divided into collectivist and individualist groups according to their cultural orientation scale individualism-collectivism test results to conduct this experiment. The participants are mixed evenly into groups, including both collectivists and individualists, and then provided to build a house on Minecraft's gaming platform. Their behavior is measured through quantitative methods using a designed table to show their in-game contributions and the Likert scale to reflect their in-game behaviour. The prediction concludes that this experiment will reveal a set of data stating that possessing individualistic values decreases an individual's chances of free-riding in a group compared to collectivistic beliefs.