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Social Dilemma in Knowledge Communication via Shared Databases

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Barriers and Biases in Computer-Mediated Knowledge Communication

Part of the book series: Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Series ((CULS,volume 5))

Abstract

Knowledge exchange via shared databases creates a social dilemma where people try to benefit from others’ contributions without having any costs. A person’s tendency to withhold information can be interpreted as a kind of free riding. An experimental setting is presented where the dilemma can be quantified. A study with 166 subjects shows that three types of providers exist: pragmatists (47 % of the subjects) contribute almost all important but rarely unimportant information, cooperators (19 %) contribute almost all information regardless of its importance and defectors (34 %) rarely contribute any information. In all groups the contribution rates decline from trial to trial and within each trial. An extensive literature review based on research on social dilemmas presents possible individual and structural dilemma solutions. Their effectiveness for the communication dilemma is discussed.

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Authors
  1. Ulrike Cress
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  2. Beatriz Barquero
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  3. Jürgen Buder
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  4. Friedrich W. Hesse
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Münster, Germany

    Rainer Bromme

  2. University of Tübingen, Germany

    Friedrich W. Hesse

  3. University of Freiburg, Germany

    Hans Spada

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© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

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Cress, U., Barquero, B., Buder, J., Hesse, F.W. (2005). Social Dilemma in Knowledge Communication via Shared Databases. In: Bromme, R., Hesse, F.W., Spada, H. (eds) Barriers and Biases in Computer-Mediated Knowledge Communication. Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Series, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-24319-4_7

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