An experimental analysis of social traps: A second life analog

Abstract

Social traps are examples of social dilemma situations, where an individual acts for personal advantage that is damaging the group as a whole. Traps can be avoided, nevertheless, by the proper coordination between the group members. A laboratory analog of social traps was implemented by Brechner in the 1970's. We built a Second Life analog for Brechner's experiment to explore how coordination takes place in a 3D virtual world. We observed group response patterns that are very similar to the original experiment. That, in turn, shows a great potential for using virtual worlds as collaborative tools.