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Investing in commitment : persistence in a joint action is enhanced by the perception of a partner's effort

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Székely, Marcell and Michael, John (2018) Investing in commitment : persistence in a joint action is enhanced by the perception of a partner's effort. Cognition, 174 . pp. 37-42. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.01.012

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.01.012

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Abstract

Can the perception that one’s partner is investing effort generate a sense of commitment to a joint action? To test this, we developed a 2-player version of the classic snake game which became increasingly boring over the course of each round. This enabled us to operationalize commitment in terms of how long participants persisted before pressing a ‘finish’ button to conclude each round. Our results from three experiments reveal that participants persisted longer when they perceived what they believed to be cues of their partner’s effortful contribution (Experiment 1). Crucially, this effect was not observed when they knew their partner to be an algorithm (Experiment 2), nor when it was their own effort that had been invested (Experiment 3). These results support the hypothesis that the perception of a partner’s effort elicits a sense of commitment, leading to increased persistence in the face of a temptation to disengage.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Commitment (Psychology) , Cooperativeness--Moral and ethical aspects , Struggle, Sunk costs
Journal or Publication Title: Cognition
Publisher: Elsevier
ISSN: 0010-0277
Official Date: May 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
May 2018Published
3 February 2018Available
25 January 2018Accepted
Date of first compliant deposit: 25 January 2018
Volume: 174
Page Range: pp. 37-42
DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.01.012
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
679092H2020 European Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663

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