Strategies for Promoting Cooperation.

According to Axelrod’s (1984) analysis of tit for tat as a key successful strategy, several practical consequences follow for the promotion of cooperation. First, enlarge the shadow of the future. If the other individual thinks that you will interact frequently in the extended future, he or she has a greater incentive to cooperate. If people know when the “last move” will occur and that the relationship will end soon, there is a greater incentive to defect and not cooperate. Enlarging the shadow of the future can be accomplished by making interactions more frequent and by making a commitment to the relationship, which occurs, for example, with wedding vows. Perhaps one reason that divorces often get nasty, marred by unkind acts of mutual defection, is that both parties know the “last move” and hence perceive a sharply limited shadow of the future.

A second strategy that Axelrod recommends is to teach reciprocity. Promoting reciprocity not only helps oneself by making others more cooperative, it also makes it more difficult for exploitative strategies to thrive. The larger the number of those who follow a tit-for-tat strategy, the less successful one will be in attempting to exploit others by defecting. Essentially, the co-operators will thrive through their interactions with each other and the exploiters will suffer because of a vanishing population of those on whom to prey.

A third strategy for the promotion of cooperation is to insist on no more than equity. Greed is the downfall of many, perhaps best exemplified by the myth of King Midas, whose lust for gold backfired when everything he touched, even the food he wanted to eat, turned to gold. The beauty of it-for-that as a strategy is that it does not insist on getting more than it gives. By promoting equity, tit for tat elicits cooperation from others.

A fourth strategy to promote cooperation is to respond quickly to provocation. If your partner defects on you, a good strategy is to retaliate immediately. This sends a strong signal that you will not tolerate being exploited, which might prompt future cooperation. A final strategy for promoting cooperation is to cultivate a personal reputation as a reciprocator. We live in a social world in which the beliefs others have about us—our reputations—determine whether they will befriend or avoid us. Reputations are established through one’s actions, and word about one’s actions spreads. Cultivating a reputation as a reciprocator will make others seek you out for mutual gain. A reputation as an exploiter will lead to social shunning. The combined effect of these strategies will create a runaway pattern of cooperation, in which those who were formerly exploiters are forced to rehabilitate their bad reputations by becoming co-operators themselves. In this way, cooperation will be promoted throughout the group.