Cooperation, Trust, and Reciprocity: Theory and Evidence from the Field of Behavioral Economics

Dear Colleagues,

Cooperation, trust, and reciprocity are fundamental pillars of social organization and behavioral exchange, essential for the functioning of relationships, institutions, markets, and governance systems. Their presence facilitates mutually beneficial outcomes, reduces transaction costs, and enables collective action. Yet, despite their fundamental importance, conspicuous gaps remain in our understanding of the precise psychological mechanisms governing these behaviors. Classical theories, often predicated on strict self-interest, frequently fail to predict or explain the observed variance in these behaviors across individuals and contexts. This necessitates a deeper behavioral inquiry. Investigation of the relevant cognitive foundations—how individuals perceive cooperative opportunities, assess trustworthiness, and internalize norms of reciprocity—is paramount. Furthermore, elucidating the precise behavioral mechanisms through which these dispositions translate into action, including the roles of social preferences, heuristics, and learning, remains a challenge. Moreover, these behaviors are highly sensitive to contextual determinants. Factors such as communication channels, cultural norms, emotional factors, incentive structures, and the shadow of the future exert powerful, yet incompletely understood, influences on the emergence and sustainability of cooperation, trust, and reciprocity among individual interactions.

This Special Issue calls for contributions that significantly advance our understanding of the behavioral mechanisms that promote cooperation, trust, and reciprocity. We welcome rigorous theoretical or empirical research, as well as comprehensive literature reviews, from the field of behavioral economics. Theoretical submissions may include the development of novel behavioral models, explorations of the evolutionary underpinnings of cooperative behavior, or innovative applications of established theories to new domains such as digital platforms. For empirical research, we encourage a broad spectrum of methodological approaches, encompassing laboratory and field experiments, neuroeconomic studies, and empirical analyses using observational or survey data. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that investigate specific, high-impact themes within this domain. These include, but are not limited to, (1) the psychological and social mechanisms governing the formation and breakdown of trust and reciprocity; (2) the dynamic behavioral processes driving the evolution of cooperation and trust within social structures; and (3) the role of institutions and social norms in shaping cooperative outcomes. Submissions offering thorough syntheses of the existing literature on focused topics central to these overarching themes are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jie Zheng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• cooperation
• trust
• reciprocity
• social preferences
• social dilemmas
• collective action
• altruism and spite
• guilt and shame
• experimental methods
• behavioral economics
• neuroeconomics
• public goods provision
• gift exchange