Cooperators Are Faster but Not More Accurate in Social Exchange Decisions Compared to Defectors

In this study, we focus on decision-making in social exchange. In particular, we test the effectiveness (measured by speed and accuracy of decisions) of the decision-making in social exchange. Experimental results show that persons who cooperate in a prisoner’s dilemma game (cooperators) are faster but not more accurate at solving the social contract version of the Wason selection task compared to persons selecting in a prisoner’s dilemma game a defection strategy (defectors). Differences between cooperators and defectors in speed or accuracy of decision-making have not been observed in the abstract version of the Wason selection task. The obtained results provide empirical support to the claim that the social exchange heuristic works as an optimizing tool of the human mind.