Below we provide a series of questions to motivate discussions among your students. Feel free to adapt them to your group and the topics covered in your subject.
Keep in mind that the purpose of this exercise is NOT to judge anyone's beliefs or decisions. We strongly suggest you promote a respectful environment in these discussions by inviting your students to:
(i) listen and respect each others' opinions;
(ii) avoid making value judgments about social preferences. They simply reflect the drivers of our decisions, not a general behavioral paradigm;
(iii) avoid prejudice and stereotypes when making comparisons across groups. Keep in mind that the data presented is based on samples of individuals who are not representative of a particular university, country or gender.
Altruists: What motivates people to put others' well-being before their own? How does empathy influence their choices?
Egalitarians: Why do some people always strive for equality in their decisions? Where do we see this in everyday life?
Selfish: Why do some people focus mainly on their own gain? What factors lead them to make self-centered decisions?
Antisocials: What might cause someone to act against others, even if it harms themselves? What experiences or emotions could drive this behavior?
Workplace Behavior: In your professional life, do you imagine your behavior will align more with egalitarian, altruistic, selfish, or antisocial decisions? How will this impact your work relationships? Your reputation? Your returns?
Values: Do the priorities you had in the game reflect your real-life values? Are they consistent or different? Why do you think that is?
Family Dynamics: In your family, do you tend to act more as an egalitarian, altruist, selfish, or antisocial? How do family values influence your behavior?
Global Politics: How do you think your behavior in the game reflects your views on global political issues? Did you prioritize equality, altruism, self-interest, or something else?
Climate Change: Do your decisions in the game relate to how you view climate change? Are you more focused on individual gains, collective welfare, or something else?
Community Involvement: How does your behavior in the game compare to your involvement in the community? Do you prioritize the common good or individual success?
Which factors could explain differences across countries?
Think for example of religion, ethnic diversity, collectivist vs. individualistic values.
Want to know more?
Check out these academic references:
Alfonso, A. (2024). Taking risks by flying paper airplanes. Frontiers in Education, 9, Article 1301952. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1301952
Balkenborg, D., & Kaplan, T. (2009). Economic classroom experiments. Economics.
Brañas-Garza, P. (2024). Young teens at play: Girls are egalitarian, boys are generous. Personality and Individual Differences, 226, 112703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112703
Caballer-Tarazona, M., García-Gallego, A., & Rodrigo-González, A. (2016). Promoting trust and reciprocity in the classroom. In EDULEARN16 Proceedings (pp. 3698-3705). IATED.
Cárdenas, J. C., & Ramos, P. A. (2006). Manual de juegos económicos para el análisis del uso colectivo de los recursos naturales.
Cartwright, E., & Stepanova, A. (2012). What do students learn from a classroom experiment: Not much, unless they write a report on it. The Journal of Economic Education, 43(1), 48-57.
Chaudhuri, A. (2008). Experiments in economics: Playing fair with money. Routledge.
Durham, Y., McKinnon, T., & Schulman, C. (2007). Classroom experiments: Not just fun and games. Economic Inquiry, 45(1), 162-178.
Emerson, T. L., & English, L. K. (2016). Classroom experiments: Teaching specific topics or promoting the economic way of thinking? The Journal of Economic Education, 47(4), 288-299.
Grol, R., Sent, E. M., & de Vries, B. (2017). Participate or observe? Effects of economic classroom experiments on students’ economic literacy. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 32, 289-310.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263-292.
Lin, T. C. (2018). Using classroom gameplay in introductory microeconomics to enhance business student learning and lecture attendance. Journal of Education for Business, 93(7), 295-303.
Picault, J. (2019). The economics instructor’s toolbox. International Review of Economics Education, 30, Article 100154.
Rodrigo-González, A., & Caballer-Tarazona, M. (2015). A model to assess students’ social responsibility behavior within a classroom experiment. International Review of Economics Education, 18, 62-82.
Smith, V. L. (1982). Microeconomic systems as an experimental science. American Economic Review, 72(5), 923-955.
Stodder, J. (1998). Experimental moralities: Ethics in classroom experiments. The Journal of Economic Education, 29(2), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220489809597946