Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART ONE INTRODUCTION AND THEORY
- PART TWO THE SITUATIONS
- Single-Component Patterns
- Two- and Three-Component Patterns
- Entry #5 The Prisoner's Dilemma: Me versus We
- Entry #6 Threat: Trading Loyalty for Justice
- Entry #7 Chicken: Death before Dishonor
- Entry #8 Hero: Let's Do It Your Way
- Entry #9 Conjunctive Problems: Together We Can Do It
- Entry #10 Disjunctive Problems: Either of Us Can Do It
- Entry #11 Asymmetric Dependence: You're the Boss
- Time-Extended Patterns
- Incomplete Information Situations
- N-Person Situations
- Movement from One Situation to Another
- PART THREE EPILOGUE
- References
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Entry #8 - Hero: Let's Do It Your Way
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- PART ONE INTRODUCTION AND THEORY
- PART TWO THE SITUATIONS
- Single-Component Patterns
- Two- and Three-Component Patterns
- Entry #5 The Prisoner's Dilemma: Me versus We
- Entry #6 Threat: Trading Loyalty for Justice
- Entry #7 Chicken: Death before Dishonor
- Entry #8 Hero: Let's Do It Your Way
- Entry #9 Conjunctive Problems: Together We Can Do It
- Entry #10 Disjunctive Problems: Either of Us Can Do It
- Entry #11 Asymmetric Dependence: You're the Boss
- Time-Extended Patterns
- Incomplete Information Situations
- N-Person Situations
- Movement from One Situation to Another
- PART THREE EPILOGUE
- References
- Author Index
- Subject Index
Summary
Examples
Pairs of individuals often face situations in which they have a common interest in coordinating their behaviors, but different preferences for the particular combination of behaviors that will be chosen. Among the varieties of this situation is the one considered here, referred to as “Hero” (for reasons to be explained below). In this particular case, the two persons have a strong mutual desire to coordinate their actions, but also a mild conflict of interest about which particular action to pursue among those necessary for such coordination.
For example, in close relationships partners often place great value on doing certain things together, such as going to movies or jogging together. However, they may differ in their preferences for which movie to see or where to jog. A husband may prefer to see a comedy, and the wife a crime movie. Despite this difference, their primary consideration is their strong, mutual interest in engaging in a shared activity and enjoying each other's company. The issue they face then is not whether to go to a movie together or separately, but rather how to determine whose preferred movie they will attend jointly. In these circumstances, the opportunity exists for one partner to “play the hero” by volunteering to go to the movie the other prefers.
These types of situations are likely to occur frequently in the everyday adjustments and coordinating decisions that friends or partners in close relationships must make.
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- Chapter
- Information
- An Atlas of Interpersonal Situations , pp. 216 - 227Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003