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Other research findings also support the general principle that punishment is generally less effective than
reinforcement in changing behavior. In a recent meta-analysis, Gershoff (2002) [13] found that although children who
were spanked by their parents were more likely to immediately comply with the parents’ demands, they were also
more aggressive, showed less ability to control aggression, and had poorer mental health in the long term than
children who were not spanked. The problem seems to be that children who are punished for bad behavior are likely
to change their behavior only to avoid the punishment, rather than by internalizing the norms of being good for its
own sake. Punishment also tends to generate anger, defiance, and a desire for revenge. Moreover, punishment models
the use of aggression and ruptures the important relationship between the teacher and the learner (Kohn, 1993). [14]
Reinforcement in Social Dilemmas
The basic principles of reinforcement, reward, and punishment have been used to help
understand a variety of human behaviors (Rotter, 1945; Bandura, 1977; Miller & Dollard,
1941). [15] The general idea is that, as predicted by principles of operant learning and the law of
effect, people act in ways that maximize theiroutcomes, where outcomes are defined as the
presence of reinforcers and the absence of punishers.
Consider, for example, a situation known as the commons dilemma, as proposed by the ecologist
Garrett Hardin (1968). [16] Hardin noted that in many European towns there was at one time a
centrally located pasture, known as the commons, which was shared by the inhabitants of the
village to graze their livestock. But the commons was not always used wisely. The problem was
that each individual who owned livestock wanted to be able to use the commons to graze his or
her own animals. However, when each group member took advantage of the commons by
grazing many animals, the commons became overgrazed, the pasture died, and the commons was
destroyed.
Although Hardin focused on the particular example of the commons, the basic dilemma of
individual desires versus the benefit of the group as whole can also be found in many
contemporary public goods issues, including the use of limited natural resources, air pollution,
and public land. In large cities most people may prefer the convenience of driving their own car
to work each day rather than taking public transportation. Yet this behavior uses up public goods
(the space on limited roadways, crude oil reserves, and clean air). People are lured into the