The Bad Apple Effect and Social Value Orientation in Public-Goods Dilemmas: Replication and Extension of Research Findings

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to replicate and extend previous findings on the effect of uncooperative behavior on group cooperation (the “bad apple” effect). Study 1 (56 women, 40 men; M age = 23.5 yr.) manipulated information about contributions from the bad apple, controlling for overall contributions to a group account. Study 2 (50 women, 34 men; M age = 20.4 yr.) compared the effects of a bad apple and a good apple on cooperation. The social value orientation of participants was measured to explore individual differences in the bad apple effect. The results revealed a bad apple (a) decreased cooperation among individuals with proself and prosocial orientations in Study 1, and (b) had a greater effect than a good apple on those who were proself compared to prosocial in Study 2.

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