![\"Police](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/65917-20150924.jpg\")
<\/a>differences between these two mental attitudes. Cooperation is when people act together for the mutual benefit of all involved parties, so that all of them can obtain a specific goal. Competition is when an individual acts for his own personal benefit so that he can obtain a goal that is of limited availability. So when you are playing a board game with only one winner, chances are you will feel a sense of competitiveness, because the goal (ie. being the winner) is of limited availability, what with only one spot available. Yet when you are working on a team project, chances are you will tend to exhibit cooperative behavior because the goal (getting a good grade) is not awarded to only one person in the group.<\/span><\/p>\nGame Theory<\/h2>\n
In this post I want to discuss something known as game theory, specifically the prisoner\u2019s dilemma,and how it realates to something we all want\u2014Trust. The prisoner\u2019s dilemma is based on a hypothetical case in which you have two prisoners (prisoner A and prisoner B, creative huh?) taken into custody and placed in separate interrogation rooms. In order to convict these individuals, the police needs a confession from at least one of the prisoners. Obviously each prisoner has two options: he can either confess or not confess. The outcome depends on how each of the prisoners respond. If both prisoners remain silent and do not confess, they are charged with a misdemeanor. If both prisoners confess, they will be charged with a felony, but recommended for a moderate sentence. If prisoner A confesses and prisoner B remains silent, prisoner A will have his charges dropped and prisoner B will be charged and receive the maximum sentence (and vice versa). To make this a little clearer, let\u2019s examine a chart. The numbers used for sentencing in the chart below should just be seen as placeholders representing any range of larger sentencing.<\/span><\/p>\n Obviously the best option for each prisoner is to confess while the other remains silent, because then they do not get punished at all in that case. In other words, each prisoner gains the most if they choose to cooperate while the other prisoner competes. However, it is likely that both prisoners will weigh their options and come to this same conclusion, leading to a scenario where they both decide to confess (hoping the other stays silent), thus causing them to both serve a moderate sentence. However, there is a better option for these prisoners: if they both remain silent and do not confess, they will only get charged with a misdemeanor, a slight offense with very low consequences. It would make the most sense for the prisoners to mutually agree to just stay quiet.<\/span><\/p>\n But studies in which people were placed in this type of situation show that most individuals choose to compete. Why? I can suggest two possible reasons. One, each person is trying to look out for their own best interests, which would fall into the category of confessing and hoping the other person does not. Another reason is that the individuals don\u2019t trust each other. In the prisoner\u2019s dilemma, the police count on this: they are hoping each person confesses, or at the very least that one person confesses, so that they can get their conviction. They are counting on the fact that the prisoners won\u2019t trust their partner, and they will get the conviction they need.\u00a0 Police psychology<\/em> must be aware of this because psychologists are dealing with people who must trust their partners everyday in very different ways. There are many other examples of cooperation and competition that crop up in the media. One recent example came from a teacher at the University of Maryland. The teacher included a very controversial question on his final examination for the semester:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHere you have the opportunity to earn some extra credit on your final paper grade. Select whether you want 2 points or 6 points added onto your final paper grade. But there\u2019s a small catch: if more than 10% of the class selects 6 points, then no one gets any points. Your responses will be anonymous to the rest of the class, only I will see the responses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Obviously the best option for each individual student is to select the extra 6 points (and hope most of the class doesn\u2019t pick this too), but if every student makes this judgment call, then no one will receive the extra points. In this case, cooperation is really the only way that the class can benefit\u2026but cooperation requires trust, and trust is hard to come by. (In case you are curious, more than 10% of the students selected 6 points, and so no one received the extra credit.)<\/span><\/p>\n Studies like these suggest a very simplistic idea: cooperation is better than competition. And yet in practice, cooperation requires something elusive and often lacking: trust. If only people trust each other more, everyone can benefit from something that is of limited availability.<\/span><\/p>\n So where am I going with this you may ask. If you never get arrested, you have no dilemma, right? Not so quick Speedy Gonzales!\u00a0\u00a0 Not at least in police psychology<\/span>.\u00a0 If you are your kid\u2019s favorite parent, what is your spouse? You can either allow this acclamation from your child or confront it. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to pick a favorite, just say we are both your favorites.\u201d Kid will learn quickly that mom and dad are together, and trust it. Or the kid will learn he or she can split their parents and raise the roof as a teen. Believe it or not, adult bosses do the same thing, in fact, it is one of the techniques used in gaining power in the workplace. \u201cBoss, you shouldn\u2019t have favorites, but thank you for liking my work this week. We work as a team though,\u201d is better than revealing in being your bosses favorite. It is hard to gain trust back after you have lost it, and setting yourself apart through this kind of manipulation<\/a> gets around and divides an office. Trust comes when you let people know your work will set you apart, not other people\u2019s feelings about you.\u00a0 If trust is broken in a police relationship it can be deadly. And what happens when you come across that person who says they will be silent but talks to save themselves? The damage they do to anyone who sees this act<\/a> will be ten times the sentence you will receive. You will come out ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n Trust me on that one!<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police Psychology | Are You Cooperative or Competitive? \u00a0 This question resonates for all police psychology from testing to operational to consulting to working with the officer in a therapeutic role.\u00a0 Are you cooperative or competitive? In order to understand this question better, we need to understand the specific differences between these two mental attitudes. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17168884],"tags":[17168797,17168831,17168847],"class_list":["post-748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motives","tag-police-psychology","tag-police-stress","tag-trust"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":386,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=386","url_meta":{"origin":748,"position":0},"title":"Police Psychology | The Police Candidate Interpretive Report","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"June 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Police Candidate Interpretive Report \u00a0 I had one of the first cell phones for public consumption.\u00a0 It fit in a bag.\u00a0 The battery lasted minutes not hours, and it was essentially a car phone that could be moved around.\u00a0 But visions of Dick Tracy\u2019s watch and Agent 86\u2019s shoe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tests"","block_context":{"text":"Tests","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168877"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":772,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=772","url_meta":{"origin":748,"position":1},"title":"Police Psychology | I Said Blog, Not BLOB","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | I Said Blog \u2013 Not BLOB \u00a0 The police force has been around for years, and yet police psychology is a relatively new field. This is a really fascinating concept, because police stress is not a new thing\u2014it\u2019s as old as the job itself! But expanding police\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Public Information Bureau"","block_context":{"text":"Public Information Bureau","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168888"},"img":{"alt_text":"police psychology, blob","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/policepsychologyblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/blob-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":541,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=541","url_meta":{"origin":748,"position":2},"title":"Guest Blogger | How To Survive a Professional Ambush","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"July 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Guest Blogger | How To Survive a Professional Ambush \u00a0by Marla Friedman, Psy.D. Police Psychologist, Director of Investigative Services, Immediate Past Chair-Illinois Police Psychological Services\/ILACP, Board of Directors-Badge of Life I began my career in mental health in 1979. I had graduated with a shiny, fresh degree in psychology, though\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7132,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=7132","url_meta":{"origin":748,"position":3},"title":"Police Psychology Book Review: Towards the integration of police psychology techniques to combat juvenile delinquency in K-12 classrooms","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"December 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology Book Review:\u00a0 Rose, Gary. (2013) Towards the integration of police psychology techniques to combat juvenile delinquency in K-12 classrooms by Paul Cech \u00a0 Gary Rose revised his doctoral dissertation to create a book that will be of special interest to readers who are peace officers; teachers; police, school,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168876"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":949,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=949","url_meta":{"origin":748,"position":4},"title":"Police Psychology | How Policing Can Be Improved with Science","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | How Policing Can Be Improved with Science \u00a0Marcus Clarke is the author of psysci.co a psychology blog that examines the latest research and explains findings in simple terms. Police forces around the world face increasing pressure, from cuts to funding to new forms of crime, so ensuring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Rank and Leadership"","block_context":{"text":"Rank and Leadership","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168887"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5092,"url":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?p=5092","url_meta":{"origin":748,"position":5},"title":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection","author":"Gary Aumiller","date":"January 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Police Psychology | The Obsessed Mind-Body Connection by Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D. ABPP","rel":"","context":"In "Mastering Thoughts"","block_context":{"text":"Mastering Thoughts","link":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/?cat=17168878"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p60sbO-c4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=748"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/policepsychologyblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nThe Power of Trust<\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nBottom Line<\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>3 Attitudes that Gain Trust<\/h2>\n\n
<\/h2>\n
Gary S. Aumiller, Ph.D.<\/span><\/h2>\n
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