Attributions of Intention to a Simulated Partner in a Mixed‐motive Game

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which the intentions which a subject will attribute to his partner in a particular type of bargaining game may be affected by the subject's own outcomes, the costs incurred by the partner, and the subject's own intentions. It was found that a simulated partner whose apparent behaviour produced favourable outcomes for the subject tended to be seen as more cooperative than one whose behaviour produced unfavourable outcomes, unless his behaviour appeared to be purely determined by his own system of costs. Also, subjects who attributed to their partner intentions similar to their own tended to be more competitive than those who attributed dissimilar intentions, when their own outcomes were unfavourably affected but not when they were favourably affected.