The Promotion and Evolution of Cooperation Through Projection: Implications for Social Dilemmas and Trust

It is rational for individuals to defect in social dilemmas. However, sometimes individuals display cooperative behaviors. This article focuses on one psychological mechanism proposed by some researchers as a promoter of cooperation—projection. Projection is a psychological mechanism that leads an individual to expect others to behave as he or she behaves. I model the emergence of cooperation in society through agent-based simulations. Results of the simulations suggest that projection evolves and promotes cooperation in a society where both structural embeddedness and opportunity costs are high, or where structural embeddedness is moderate and opportunity costs are low. I discuss the implication of the simulation results for studies of social dilemmas and trust.