"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，不是因为我们无法找到合理的原因，而是因为我们已经找到了太多的原因。本研究将性别不平等作为多向权力动态的产物进行分析。本研究的目的是在多种形式的权力可能被行使的背景下，实验检验性别不平等的理论原因。四个实验将检验性别不平等是如何产生和维持的一些基本理论。每个实验都考察人们在实验游戏中如何使用四到五种权力与他人互动。权力的种类包括控制可交换资源，如金钱，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。每种力量都用一个彩色的符号来表示。规则规定了玩家如何使用每个令牌来响应游戏施加的要求或发起行动。虽然每一种力量都是抽象的，但游戏中有许多与生活的类比。游戏方法允许人们以几种形式衡量权力：行使权力（游戏邦注：用于游戏行为）、潜在权力（玩家能够做什么）、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少权力）。因为性别不平等以家庭结构、领导结构、文化再生产以及与其他社会的关系的形式为社会提供了组织，理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.