8.3:

8.3: Soziale Fallen

JoVE Core
Social Psychology

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JoVE Core Social Psychology

Social Traps

8.4: Aggression

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01:41 min

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February 12, 2020

Overview

Social traps are negative situations where people get caught in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant, with no easy way to back out of or avoid. The concept was orignally introduced by John Platt who applied psychology to Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons", where in New England herd owners could let their cattle graze in the common ground. This situation seems like a good idea, but an individual could have an advantage. If they owned more cows, the larger herds would deplete the grass, and excessive herds and overgrazing can destroy the field and result in a collective loss for everyone (Hardin, 1968). Platt recognized that people who operated on short-term gains had a tendency to exploit resouirces, which led to long-term losses for society.

Applications

In addition to congested highways, you might know someone who's purchased a gas-guzzler when the price of gas became low due to high supply. What happens when more people do the same, fueling their vehicles with more gas, which in turn depletes the supply? The same pattern can be found in the way people think about environmental contamination. For instance, one farmer uses pesticides to get rid of a few pests. He thinks no one will even notice, but then his neighbors do the same thing, and over time, they collectively cause damage to the town's water supply.

Transcript

When an individual does something—like leave work right at 5 o’clock—they may feel that their action is harmless—they simply want to get home as early as possible.

However, if everyone has an identical approach and conveniently leaves at the same exact time, collective harm is done because resources are limited—there’s now a traffic jam due to sharing insufficient roads!

This example is a collective social trap—a situation in which a group of people act to obtain short-term individual gains that, in the long run, may lead to undesirable effects for the group as a whole.

As many drivers continue to pursue their own interests, like thinking that the gap means one lane is moving much faster than another, such paths can fuel social conflict—a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.

With such congestion, everyone will be late to arrive home. Now, he must wait even longer! In this case, he’s so caught up in the process—swearing and complaining—and the last thought on his mind is respect and fairness for all commuters.

While social traps are hard to dismantle, one possible solution is to implement tactics and policies to improve situations, such as shifting hours to produce staggered departure times or, if carpooling, pay reduced tolls.

In the end, resolving exposed traps—and not falling prey—is important to prevent unfavorable outcomes that may not be obvious in the beginning.

Key Terms and definitions

Social Trap – A situation where immediate rewards lead to long-term collective negative consequences.
Short-term Gain – Benefits received swiftly that could lead to long-term harm.
Superordinate Goals – Shared objectives that necessitate cooperative efforts.
Environmental Contamination – Damage to environmental resources due to human activities.
Conflict Trap – A situation where conflict leads to conditions that perpetuate further conflict.

Learning Objectives

Define Social Trap – Explain its implications in psychology and societal contexts (e.g., social traps definition psychology).
Contrast Short-term Gains vs. Long-term Consequences – Discuss the impact of social traps (e.g., short-term gains).
Explore Examples of Social Traps – Describe real-world scenarios (e.g., environment contamination).
Explain the Conflict Trap – Discuss the cycle that fuels further conflict.
Apply Strategies to Avoid Social Traps – Discuss psychological methods to evade these situations.

Questions that this video will help you answer

What is a social trap and how does it create long-term harm?
What are some real-world examples of social traps?
How can conflict traps be seen as a form of social trap?

This video is also useful for

Students – Understand how the concept of social traps contributes to their comprehension of psychology and human behavior.
Educators – Provides a clear framework that aids in teaching topics on social psychology.
Researchers – The study of social traps offers significant insights for social and environmental studies.
Psychologists – Offers a deeper understanding of human behavior and collective decision-making processes.

Tags

JoVE Core Psych JoVE Core Psych Chapter 8 JoVE Core Psych Lesson 543