How Does Pronoun Use Affect Cooperation? An Analysis of the Pronouns We and I in the Game Show Golden Balls -BA Paper

Language plays an important role in cooperation. Pronoun use can signal a person’s willingness to cooperate and increase perceived trustworthiness. This, in turn, may influence whether an interaction partner chooses to cooperate. Previous research shows that the first-person plural pronoun we has trust-enhancing effects and is predictive of cooperative behaviour. The first-person singular pronoun I has also been linked to honest communication. Both pronouns are therefore expected to signal cooperative intentions and encourage cooperation. This study investigates whether pronoun use predicts cooperative behaviour in the game show Golden Balls. The show is structured as a game-theoretic Prisoner’s Dilemma. Interactions between contestants were analysed to assess whether pronouns influence cooperation outcomes. Quantitative analyses were conducted using R to calculate measures of centrality, dispersion, and confidence intervals. The results were largely inconclusive. However, a weak association was found between the use of the pronoun I and cooperative behaviour. One possible explanation is that the high-stakes nature of the game show affects interaction dynamics. These dynamics may differ from those found in everyday social interactions. Future research could further examine the role of the pronoun I while accounting for contextual and demographic factors.