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Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Some scholars find that behavioral variation in the public goods game is explained by variations in participants\u2019 understanding of how to maximize payoff and that confusion leads to cooperation. Their findings lead them to question the common assumption in behavioral economics experiments that choices reflect motivations. We conduct two experiments, in which we minimize confusion by providing participants with increased training. We also introduce a question that specifically assesses participants\u2019 understanding of payoff maximization choices. Our experimental results show that the distribution of behavior types is significantly different when participants play with computers versus humans. A significant increase in contributions is also observed when participants play with humans compared to when they play with computers. Moreover, social norms may be the main motive for contributions when playing with computers. Our findings suggest that social preferences, rather than confusion, play a crucial role in determining contributions in public goods games when playing with humans. We therefore argue that the assumption in behavioral economics experiments that choices reveal motivations is indeed valid.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2310109121","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,27]],"date-time":"2024-02-27T13:04:41Z","timestamp":1709039081000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Confusion cannot explain cooperative behavior in public goods games"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"121","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-4690-3301","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guangrong","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Neural Decision Science Laboratory, School of Economics and Management, Weifang University, Weifang 261061, China"},{"name":"Institute for Study of Brain-like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8097-8150","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jianbiao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Study of Brain-like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China"},{"name":"Reinhard Selten Laboratory, China Academy of Corporate Governance, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-7636-0835","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wenhua","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Study of Brain-like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China"},{"name":"Reinhard Selten Laboratory, China Academy of Corporate Governance, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3430-2774","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiaofei","family":"Niu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Study of Brain-like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-2717-4945","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yue","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Study of Brain-like Economics, School of Economics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"341","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_1_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-005-0436-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1110600"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tics.2013.01.009"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10683-013-9360-1"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/003355399556151"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/415137a"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature02043"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41562-018-0385-5"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.100.1.541"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0165-1765(01)00394-9"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature17160"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socec.2015.01.001"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1158757"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jebo.2005.04.018"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0408759102"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1525\/collabra.19004"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_2","first-page":"253","volume-title":"Handbook of Experimental Economics","author":"Ledyard J.","year":"1995","unstructured":"J. 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