One of the key scientific challenges is the puzzle of human cooperation. Why do people cooperate with one another? What causes individuals to lend a helping hand to a stranger, even if it comes at a major cost to their own well-being? Why do people severely punish those who violate social norms and undermine the collective interest? Edited by Paul A.M. Van Lange, Bettina Rockenbach, and Toshio Yamagishi, Trust in Social Dilemmas carefully considers the role of trust in establishing, promoting, and maintaining overall human cooperation. By exploring the impact of trust and effective cooperation on relationships, organizations, and communities, Trust in Social Dilemmas draws inspiration from the fact that social dilemmas, defined in terms of conflicts between self-interest and the collective interest, are omnipresent in today's society. In capturing the breadth and relevance of trust to social dilemmas and human cooperation more generally, this book is structured in three effective parts for readers: the biology and development of trust; the importance of trust for groups and organizations; and how trust factors across the overall health of today's society. As Van Lange, Rockenbach, Yamagishi, and their team of expert contributors all explore in this compelling new volume, there is little doubt that trust and cooperation are intimately related in most - if not all - of our social dilemmas.

About the Author
Paul A.M. Van Lange is Professor and Chair in Social Interaction and Interdependence at VU University in Amsterdam. Bettina Rockenbach is Professor of Experimental and Behavioral Economics at the University of Cologne. Toshio Yamagishi is Professor of Behavioral Science at the Graduate School of Letters of Hokkaido University in Japan.

Reviews
"It takes trust to eat out at a restaurant, to initiate a business relation with another party, or to respond to an email from a stranger. Especially in a social dilemma, where individual and collective goals are in conflict, trust is needed to resolve this conflict. With trust, relationships fare better, organizations perform better, and societies function better. In many cases trust is grounded in quick and heuristic assessments of other's trustworthiness. However, a strict 'rational actor' will be tempted to exploit any trust offered to her rather than reward it. Thus, the study of trust is filled with interesting complications, thought-provoking contradictions, and nuances that excite the researcher. Many key issues of this fascinating field are covered by this book. Both specialists and lay readers will enjoy it and profit." -- Manfred Milinski, Director, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Ploen "Trust is one of the foundational concepts in the social, behavioral, and life sciences. In this wonderful and timely volume, the editors assemble a diverse mix of leading scholars on this topic. They present the latest and most important findings on the evolutionary and biological foundations of trust, how trust develops over time, how it operates in both dyads and larger groups, and how and why trust sometimes functions differently within different cultures. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in trust, broadly defined." -- Jeffry A. Simpson, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota



Book Information
ISBN 9780190630782
Author Paul A. M. van Lange
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 540g
Dimensions(mm) 155mm * 239mm * 28mm