Work

The impact of unfairness experience on cooperative behavior revealed by ultimatum game-public goods game integration: an ERPs study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: = 1.06) completed the Ultimatum Game (UG) with three proposal types (fair, moderately unfair, and extremely unfair) while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded, followed by the Public Goods Game (PGG) to assess cooperation. Behavioral results revealed that participants exhibited robust inequity aversion, rejecting moderately and extremely unfair UG proposals at significantly higher rates than fair one. Exposure to unfairness reduced subsequent PGG contributions, underscoring fairness as a priority over material gains. ERPs results showed that unfair proposals elicited stronger medial frontal negativity (MFN), reflecting norm violation detection, while fair proposals evoked larger P300 amplitudes, indexing reward valuation. Exploratory analyses revealed that P300 amplitudes positively related to cooperative behavior, suggesting reward-related neural activity facilitates post-inequity cooperation. These findings elucidate behavioral patterns of inequity aversion in interactive games and their neurophysiological correlates, advancing the understanding of how fairness preferences regulate cooperative decision-making.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1602181

Authors: Yu-Jie Wang, Yao-Zhong Liu

Institution: Jinan University

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801

Funder: Guangzhou University