Resource scarcity compromises explore-exploit decision-making

Residents living in neighborhoods marked by concentrated disadvantage (i.e., poverty, joblessness, residential segregation) contend with resource scarcity. Theories indicate that competition for resources from an insufficient pool within the context of concentrated disadvantage may be one factor that promotes social norm violations. A limited body of experimental research has explored the impact of concentrated disadvantage on decision-making about obtaining resources, and in other research, the potential connection between concentrated disadvantage and engagement in social norm violation. Participants (N = 112) completed patch-foraging tasks in resource-rich and resource-depleted (i.e., scarce) environments. Participants then completed a social norm foraging task where they could trespass and forage on their neighbor's land, which was resource-rich compared to their own. Computational modeling was used to evaluate explore-exploit decision-making in the resource-rich and resource-depleted environments. The frequency of crossing and foraging was used to capture social norm violations. Results indicated that individuals who experience higher levels of concentrated disadvantage in the real-world made fewer resource-maximizing decisions in resource-rich and resource-depleted environments. Model fits revealed that the performance difference in the resource-rich and resource-depleted environments for individuals higher on concentrated disadvantage was due to difficulty in discriminating between competing choice options and not due to a general bias toward exploring or exploiting. Finally, when foraging in a relatively depleted environment compared to the enriched environment of their neighbor, the majority of participants, regardless of experienced real-world concentrated disadvantage, engaged in social norm violations. Overall, resource scarcity, whether in the real world or experimental context, affects cognition and behavior.