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To cooperate or not to cooperate? An analysis of cooperation and peer punishment among Syrian refugees, Germans, and Jordanians

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  • El-Bialy, Nora
  • Aranda, Elisa Fraile
  • Nicklisch, Andreas
  • Saleh, Lamis
  • Voigt, Stefan

Abstract

Do Syrian civil war victims living in exile treat other Syrian refugees more favorably compared to members of the hosting society? We answer this question by analyzing cooperation decisions in a prisoner’s dilemma with a second stage including punishment among Syrian refugees, Germans, and Jordanians, in two host countries, Germany and Jordan. We find that Syrian refugees are more likely to cooperate when they are interacting with another refugee than when they are interacting with a German or a Jordanian participant. We find opposite results for both Germans and Jordanians who cooperate more when playing with Syrians than within their own group. Self-reported feelings of refugees suggest that in-group favoritism rather than out-group hostility drives this result, while punishment of defecting in-group and out-group members does not differ significantly for all groups. Thus, in-group favoritism seems to be a selective inclination that disappears when it clashes with other characteristics like reciprocity.

Suggested Citation

  • El-Bialy, Nora & Aranda, Elisa Fraile & Nicklisch, Andreas & Saleh, Lamis & Voigt, Stefan, 2022. "To cooperate or not to cooperate? An analysis of cooperation and peer punishment among Syrian refugees, Germans, and Jordanians," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:89:y:2022:i:c:s0167487022000034
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2022.102484
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    3. Chuah, Swee-Hoon & Gächter, Simon & Hoffmann, Robert & Tan, Jonathan H.W., 2023. "Who discriminates? Evidence from a trust game experiment across three societies," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cooperation; In-group favoritism; Refugees; Experiments; Peer punishment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C71 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Cooperative Games
    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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