In the study, ethnicity and social relationship of the partner to the inmate were manipulated. A total of 135 Chicano, Black, and Anglo male volunteer inmates were randomly assigned to one of three treatment programs, their partner being either a program supervisor, a counselor, or another inmate. Subjects' responses were measured over 20 trials; after the trials, subjects completed a 2-item questionnaire designed to assess the degree of motivational orientation towards themselves and their partners. While the research hypotheses carried the inherent assumption that partner similarity would promote cooperation, the evidence suggested that, in this social setting, partner social status plays a more dominant and predictable role in determining experimental game behavior than does partner ethnicity. The results of perceived mutual cooperation, as measured by the questionnaire, act as support for the general finding that studies involving the Prisoner's Dilemma Game have consistently produced findings with a low incidence of cooperation. Tables, figures, approximately 85 references, and appendixes are included. (Author abstract modified)