Farolfi, Stefano

Relationships are a fundamental aspect of our social lives. As relational beings, we have evolved to connect with others, and the quality of these connections significantly influences our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. However, a key question remains: can the quality of these relationships also impact how we collectively manage common pool resources (CPRs)? To address this, we developed an analytical framework to measure relationship quality within groups, focusing on emotional, perceptual, and closeness-related aspects experienced by group members. Through controlled social experiments, we tested whether the quality of relationships within groups affects CPR management. We manipulated relational quality via cooperative, competitive, and individual effort tasks, followed by a CPR game. Our results indicate that the quality of relationships significantly influences resource management. Positive perceptions of self and others’ behaviors, along with a sense of engagement and closeness, led to lower CPR extractions, while negative emotional states and perceptions resulted in higher resource uptake. These findings underscore the actionable role of relationships in CPR management, identifying relational quality as a crucial determinant of collective action and advocating for fostering high-quality connections to improve CPR outcomes.