CeDEx Brown Bag Seminar - Becky Zhu

Title: When Punishment Backfires: The Crucial Role of Common Knowledge in Fostering Cooperation and Preventing Feuds

Abstract: Punishment is important for preserving social cooperation through normative signalling, but it can also backfire and lead to feuds between parties. Although punishment has been extensively studied, less attention has been paid to how common knowledge affects its effectiveness and potential consequences, particularly how punishment might backfire when common knowledge is absent. This research investigates these relationships using a modified dictator game. We conducted a 2x3 experiment that varied common knowledge (whether dictators knew if receivers earned the endowment) and punishment conditions (no punishment, single punishment, and three-round punishment). The findings suggest that dictators transferred more points when they were informed of the receivers' earned endowment, and punishment was more effective when both parties had common knowledge. Receivers were more inclined to punish low transfers under one-round vs. three-round settings, and feuds had a positive relationship with low transfers. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of punishment in fostering cooperation depends significantly on whether parties share common knowledge of the norms that punishment aims to protect. This relationship has important practical implications for developing effective conflict management and prevention strategies.

Becky Zhu is a PhD candidate at the University of Warwick. Her research interests lie in prosocial behaviour, social norms, and we-thinking.