What is the Prisoner's Dilemma? Definition and meaning

Prisoner's Dilemma

Definition: the Prisoner's Dilemma is a zero-sum game example of a Game Theory situation: 2 criminals are arrested under the suspicion of having committed a crime together. However, the police does not have sufficient proof to have them convicted. The 2 prisoners are isolated from each other and the police offers each of them a deal: the person that offers evidence against the other one will be freed. If none of them accepts the offer, both of them will get only a small punishment because of lack of proof. If one person betrays the other, he will gain more, since he is freed. But the other will receive full punishment.
Both prisoners are unable to make a good decision, because they don't know what the other will do.

💡

Learn more about the Prisoner's Dilemma.

More on individual decision making: Anchoring Bias, Bayesian Theory, Black Swan Theory, Bounded Rationality, Cognitive Bias, more on individual decision making...

MBA Brief provides concise yet precise definitions of organizational concepts, management methods, and business models as taught in an MBA program.

We keep it short and provide links to high-quality websites where you can learn more about your topic.

Add MBA Brief to your desktop / iPad