Abstract: Social dilemmas are situations in which individual rationality leads to collective irrationality. An extensive body of empirical research examines the mechanism of cooperation in social dilemmas, yet lacking systematical theory framework. Structure of social dilemmas in experimental research could be classified into four categories: give-some vs. take-some games, 2-person vs. N-person dilemmas, asymmetric vs. symmetric dilemmas, iterated vs. noniterated dilemmas. Experimental research on social dilemmas mainly examines the factors influencing cooperative behavior in social dilemmas, including individual differences, task structure, and, perceptual and strategical factors. Those factors could be integrated in a conceptual framework. We believe that future research will identify those and other important variables and determine the interrelationship among them, and continue to enrich relevant concepts and theories

Key words: social dilemmas, decision making, cooperation