Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Are Patient People More Cooperative? A Study of the Relationship between Time Preferences and Cooperation in Vietnam

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Patience and cooperativeness play critical roles in determining a society's level of collective wellbeing, yet scientists do not know what determines these traits or how exactly they are related to one another. Some preliminary laboratory research among Western undergraduate students suggests that patience and cooperativeness are correlated at the individual level. However, this correlation may be specific to Western university-trained students. Moreover, it may be an artifact of the methodology used to assess patience and cooperativeness or the apparent relationship between patience and cooperativeness may be due to a correlation with a third variable, such as trust.In this Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant research, the co PI will conduct studies to explore the generality and origins of the patience / cooperativeness correlation. To address the "generality" question, the research will involve studying patience and cooperativeness among a broad sample of northern and southern Vietnamese (i.e., non-western) adults. More extensive assessment methodology and collection of demographic data will help address whether the correlation is real or specious. Findings from this research will be useful to government and non-government agencies that are involved in development projects in Vietnam, by examining some of the key ingredients of "social capital" in Vietnam.