Abstract: Resource dilemma, one basic prototype of the social dilemmas, is a rare topic in psychology that appeals not only to psychologists, but also to scholars in many other disciplines. This paper provides a review and integration of the psychological researches on resource dilemma at the current time, highlighting the decision model proposed by Samuelson and Messick in 1994, which divided the solutions as structural and individual. This paper also introduces the research progresses on resource dilemma in psychology and other disciplines.

Key words: resource dilemma, social dilemma, decision model, uncertainty