1988 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 139-148
An experiment was performed in order to test the characteristic space theory proposed by Doi and Imai (1986). It was confirmed that subjects' choice behavior supports the prediction of the theory, and the choice behavior in 2×2 games can be clearly explained based on the basic assumption of social motive. Then, the distribution of subjects' social motive θ was obtained from choice behavior of subject, by the measurement method derived from the theory. It was also found that subjects' θ was stable during the experiment, so we can regard θ as expressing an attribute of subject. Further, it was discussed that the characteristic space theory can give a clear and useful explanation of the experimental result, which cannot be achieved by ordinary research methods used in experimental games. From these results and discussions, the validity of the characteristic space theory and that of the measurement method were confirmed, and they are expected to contribute to the study of the choice process in an interdependent situation.
