No abstract

In this article, a new method, called improved hypergame analysis, is developed for studying a conflict in which one or more players have misunderstood the true nature of the dispute. The method can be used for analyzing disputes having any finite number of participants consisting of individuals, organizations, nations or any kind of societal group. In order to extend the usefulness of hypergame analysis, the new and comprehensive approach is presented by giving the theoretical definitions, mathematical models, and practical procedures for performing a hypergame stability analysis. Because of the improvements to hypergame analysis, a conflict having misperceptions can be rigorously and accurately modeled and the perceived resolutions to the dispute can be properly ascertained.

The 2 • 2 game is the simplest and most commonly employed representation of strategic conflict. The 78 strict ordinal 2 x 2 games have been used as conflict models extensively, and have been related in several different taxonomies. However, interest has recently focussed on the full set of 726 general ordinal games, in which one or both players may have equal preferences for two or more outcomes. This paper describes the development of a practical taxonomy of all 726 ordinal 2 x 2 games. The taxonomy provides for rapid identification of particular games, gives a convenient ordering, is as consistent as possible with previous work, and yet is not tied to any specific solution concepts. As well, definitions of several significant game properties are developed or extended to general ordinal games and applied in conjunction with the taxonomy.

Game theory has provided many tools for the study of social conflict. The 2 x 2 game has been found to be a particularly useful model. This paper describes the enumeration and analysis of all 726 distinct 2 x 2 games. A computer is used to generate the complete set, and a wide variety of maximin, equilibrium and stability calculations is performed for each player for every outcome in every game. The resulting data set is of great value for both the modeling and analysis of social conflict.