Abstract
This article presents the results of an experimental analysis of the influence of international relations theories on the decision-making process. The experimental model was constructed on the basis of the iterated prisoner's dilemma, which was introduced to three hundred participants through discursively influenced narratives of an evolving international relations situation.
The narratives, representing an independent variable, have been derived from three theories of international relations: realism, neoliberalism, and constructivism. The goal of the experiment was to test whether these three different discursive framings result in different levels of cooperation.
Using random assignment, the experiment showed a statistically significant difference between the types of decision-making of participants assigned to the realist and the neoliberal experimental treatment. The understanding of the decision-making process was further enriched by an analysis of interviews with selected participants in the experiment.