ABSTRACT
Social dilemmas have historically been studied with the prisoner's dilemma game (PDG) and it’s many variants. This chapter discusses public goods by noting a new line of research that addresses how individuals behave when they belong to a group that is competing with another group for a good. This research is especially important because it may be relevant to issues other than social dilemmas. The chapter provides a basic introduction to research on social dilemmas, or situations in which individuals face a conflict between doing what is best for them and what is best for the group as a whole. There are many real examples of social dilemmas, which is a major reason why they are an attractive research topic. The prisoner's dilemma is the classic paradigm for studying social dilemmas, but controversy over its external validity has led to a substantial decline in its use.
