Cooperation Under Oath : A Case for Context-Dependent Preferences

The oath has been shown to improve behavior toward social objectives. The working hypothesis is that individuals under oath behave according to a fixed social preference. We examine whether an oath impacts behavior in the simultaneous and sequential versions of the prisoners’ dilemma and explore whether that impact could be attributed to a change of preference. We observe an overwhelming transfer of reported strategies by oath-takers moving second from selfish (always defect) to conditionally cooperative (cooperate against cooperation by first movers). Our results lend support to the hypothesis that preferences depend on the oath-taking context