Intelligence, personality, and gains from cooperation in repeated interactions

Proto, E. , Rustichini, A. and Sofianos, A. (2019) Intelligence, personality, and gains from cooperation in repeated interactions. Journal of Political Economy, 127(3), pp. 1351-1390. (doi: 10.1086/701355)

Abstract

We study how intelligence and personality affect the outcomes of groups, focusing on repeated interactions that provide the opportunity for profitable cooperation. Our experimental method creates two groups of subjects who have different levels of certain traits, such as higher or lower levels of Intelligence, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness, but who are very similar otherwise. Intelligence has a large and positive long-run effect on cooperative behavior. The effect is strong when at the equilibrium of the repeated game there is a trade-off between short-run gains and long-run losses. Conscientiousness and Agreeableness have a natural, significant but transitory effect on cooperation rates.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Proto, Professor Eugenio
• Authors: Proto, E., Rustichini, A., and Sofianos, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
• Journal Name: Journal of Political Economy
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• ISSN: 0022-3808
• ISSN (Online): 1537-534X
• Published Online: 10 April 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The University of Chicago
• First Published: First published in Journal of Political Economy 127(3):1351-1390
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher