# How Reputation Systems Change the Psychological Antecedents of Fairness in Virtual Environments
## 4 Discussion
### Checking Hypotheses on Fairness  
As regards Fairness, consistent results between conditions characterize Age and Sense of Community. Confirming the study second hypothesis (H2), maturity appears to be positively associated with pro-sociality: as the participant's age grows, Fairness increases. This result seems to be coherent with previous literature findings that identified a positive relationship between Age and pro-social behaviors [21]. Moreover, players' Sense of Community emerges as being associated with fair bargaining behaviors both when the reputational system is included and when it is not, accordingly with the fourth hypothesis (H4). Along the same line of [PERSON]'s work, [52], individuals with high scores of Sense of Community appear to be more cooperative, pro-social, and fair during exchanges, promoting Fairness regardless of the context features. Self-Efficacy results as negatively associated with Fairness as well, thus partially disconfirming the third hypothesis of the study (H3). Finally,  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Summary of Fairness Antecedents**} \\ \hline
**Variable** & **Reputation OFF** & **Reputation ON** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**Offer**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Extraversion (\(-\))} \\  & Extraversion (\(+\)) & Agreeableness (\(-\)) \\  & Age (\(+\)) & Conscientiousness (\(+\)) \\  & Gender (M) (\(+\)) & Neuroticism (\(+\)) \\  & & Sense of Community (\(+\)) \\  & & Self-Efficacy (\(+\)) \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**Request**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Extraversion (\(-\))} \\  & Extraversion (\(+\)) & Agreeableness (\(-\)) \\  & Agreeableness (\(-\)) & Closeness (\(-\)) \\  & Closeness (\(+\)) & Neuroticism (\(+\)) \\  & & Self-Efficacy (\(+\)) \\  & & Age (\(-\)) \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**Fairness**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Sense of Community (\(+\))} \\  & Sense of Community (\(+\)) & Self-Efficacy (\(-\)) \\ \cline{1-1}  & Self-Efficacy (\(-\)) & Neuroticism (\(-\)) \\ \cline{1-1}  & Age (\(+\)) & Closeness (\(+\)) \\ \cline{1-1}  & & Age (\(+\)) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: \(+=\) Positive relationship expected; \(-=\) Negative relationship expected.  
\end{table}
Table 8: Psychological antecedents of fairness. In the table is reported a summary of the socio-psychological characteristics that influence fair bargaining behaviors with and without a reputational system.  
focusing on the personality traits and addressing the first hypothesis of the research (H1), it should be noted that players who reported high levels of Neuroticism behaved unfairly during the interactions, as well as Closed individual pursued fair bargainings when the reputational system was included in the game. No significant effects emerged on the other personality traits included in the first hypothesis (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). According to the literature, neurotic individuals perform less fair behaviors when reputation exerts its social influence probably because they are less sensitive to the social context norms, tend to adhere less to such standards, and to be less affected by their requirements [34]. At the same time, closed people appear to be particularly susceptible to the social influence produced by norms, such as reputation; therefore, in accordance with the literature, this personality trait promotes the emergence of Fairness among interacting individuals [34].