eneral

sychology

Tragedy of the Commons: A Resource Management Simulation

Hardin (1968) created a game that simulates many of the problems that people have today in conserving resources. Imagine that you are a player in this game. A commons is an area where anyone can graze cattle. As you sell cattle you take the money and buy more cattle. At first the number of cattle is so small that there is no problem. Eventually, all players realize a problem. The commons now has so many cattle that the grass is sparse. If this keeps up the commons will become barren and will be lost for all.

It is what happens at this juncture in the game that is especially interesting. Let's look at your position as an individual herder. If you add an extra cow you will get all the money when the animal is sold. On the other hand, the cost of overgrazing is shared by all the herders. If you want to maximize your personal gain you should put as many cows as you can on the commons. However, if many players pursue this strategy all will be ruined. Most games end with all players losing everything.

The "tragedy of the commons" is an example of a social trap. That is, by pursuing their personal interests, people or organizations move in a direction that will eventually produce unpleasant or deadly consequences for everyone. People often are not able to stop this drift toward disaster even though they realize a catastrophe awaits them.

How can people get out of social traps? Moralistic pleas for the common good are seldom effective. Hardin felt that the tragedy could best be avoided by making it expensive (e.g., taxing each cow) to use the commons. Research also suggests that encouraging communication between the players can sometimes enhance cooperation that benefits everyone.
 
 

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