Social dilemmas: When self-control benefits cooperation

•We conceptualize the social dilemma as a self-control problem.•We use a subtle framing technique to manipulate perception of self-control conflict.•Self-control predicts cooperation better when perception was most likely.•Self-control enhanced reciprocity when perception was most likely.•Freeriders reported less conflict than did other cooperators.

Individuals in a social dilemma may experience a self-control conflict between urges to act selfishly and their better judgment to cooperate. Pairing a public goods game with a subtle framing technique, we test whether perception of self-control conflict strengthens the association between self-control and cooperation. Consistent with our hypothesis, cooperative behavior is positively associated with self-control in the treatment that raised the relative likelihood of perceiving conflict, but not associated with self-control in the treatment that lowered the likelihood. These results indicate that it is important to understand the role of self-control in cooperation.