"The In Game" Experimental Tests of How Power Dynamics Cause and Can Reduce Gender Inequality

性别不平等有多种复杂的原因，往往是相互促进的。性别不平等也是最令人烦恼的科学问题之一，不是因为我们找不到合理的原因，而是因为我们已经确定了其中的许多原因。这项研究分析了性别不平等是多向权力动态的产物。这项研究的目的是在可能行使多种形式的权力的背景下，从实验上检验性别不平等的理论原因。四个实验将测试关于性别不平等是如何产生和维持的一些基本理论。每个实验都考察了在一个实验游戏中，人们如何使用四到五种力量与他人互动。权力的种类包括对金钱等可交换资源的控制，使用武力强迫他人并减少他们的权力，社会合法性，对他人的不对称义务，以及性行为。每一种权力都用一个彩色的记号来代表。这些规则规定了玩家如何使用每个令牌来响应游戏强加的要求或发起行动。虽然每一种力量都被抽象地表现出来，但这个游戏与生活有许多相似之处。游戏方法允许人们以几种形式来衡量权力：已行使权力(如在游戏行为中使用的)、潜在权力(玩家能够做的事情)、感知权力(在其他玩家中的声誉)和相对权力(一个玩家比另一个玩家拥有多大的权力)。由于性别不平等以家庭结构、领导结构、文化复制以及与其他社会的关系的形式为社会提供组织，因此了解性别不平等是如何产生和维持的，对于理解人类社会生活的大多数其他重要方面至关重要。

Gender inequality has multiple and complex causes that tend to contribute to one another. Gender inequality is also among the most vexing of scientific problems, not because we cannot identify plausible causes, but because we have identified so many of them. This research analyzes gender inequality as a product of multidirectional power dynamics. The purpose of the research is to experimentally test theoretical causes of gender inequality in a context in which multiple forms of power may be exercised. Four experiments will test some basic theories of how gender inequality is created and maintained. Each experiment examines how people use four or five kinds of power in interaction with others in an experimental game. Kinds of power include control of exchangeable resources like money, use of force to coerce others and reduce their power, social legitimacy, asymmetric obligations to others, and sexuality. Each kind of power is represented with a colored token. The rules provide for how players can use each token to respond to requirements the game imposes or to initiate actions. Although each kind of power is represented abstractly, the game has many analogies to life. The game method allows one to measure power in several forms: exercised power (as used in game behavior), potential power (what a player is able to do), perceived power (reputations among other players), and relative power (how much more power one player has than another player). Because gender inequality provides organization to societies in the form of family structure, leadership structure, the reproduction of culture, as well as relations with other societies, understanding how gender inequality is created and maintained is essential for understanding most other important aspects of human social life.