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Crabtree SA, Wren CD, Dixit A, Levin SA. Influential individuals can promote prosocial practices in heterogeneous societies: a mathematical and agent-based model. PNAS NEXUS 2024; 3:pgae224. [PMID: 38957450 PMCID: PMC11218171 DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
In this paper, we examine how different governance types impact prosocial behaviors in a heterogenous society. We construct a general theoretical framework to examine a game-theoretic model to assess the ease of achieving a cooperative outcome. We then build a dynamic agent-based model to examine three distinct governance types in a heterogenous population: monitoring one's neighbors, despotic leadership, and influencing one's neighbors to adapt strategies that lead to better fitness. In our research, we find that while despotic leadership may lead towards high prosociality and high returns it does not exceed the effects of a local individual who can exert positive influence in the community. This may suggest that greater individual gains can be had by cooperating and that global hierarchical leadership may not be essential as long as influential individuals exert their influence for public good and not for public ill.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefani A Crabtree
- Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Crow Canyon Research Institute, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, CO 81321, USA
| | - Colin D Wren
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO 80918, USA
| | - Avinash Dixit
- Department of Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Simon A Levin
- The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
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2
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Nakata S, Masumi A, Toya G. Formalising prestige bias: Differences between models with first-order and second-order cues. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2024; 6:e21. [PMID: 38689894 PMCID: PMC11058518 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2024.12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Knowledge and behaviour are transmitted from one individual to another through social learning and eventually disseminated across the population. People often learn useful behaviours socially through selective bias rather than random selection of targets. Prestige bias, or the tendency to selectively imitate prestigious individuals, has been considered an important factor in influencing human behaviour. Although its importance in human society and culture has been recognised, the formulation of prestige bias is less developed than that of other social learning biases. To examine the effects of prestige bias on cultural evolution theoretically, it is imperative to formulate prestige and investigate its basic properties. We reviewed two definitions: one based on first-order cues, such as the demonstrator's appearance and job title, and the other based on second-order cues, such as people's behaviour towards the demonstrator (e.g. people increasingly pay attention to prestigious individuals). This study builds a computational model of prestige bias based on these two definitions and compares the cultural evolutionary dynamics they generate. Our models demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between the two types of formalisation, because they can have different influences on cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seiya Nakata
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akira Masumi
- School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ishikawa, Japan
| | - Genta Toya
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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3
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Gelfand MJ, Gavrilets S, Nunn N. Norm Dynamics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Social Norm Emergence, Persistence, and Change. Annu Rev Psychol 2024; 75:341-378. [PMID: 37906949 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-033020-013319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Social norms are the glue that holds society together, yet our knowledge of them remains heavily intellectually siloed. This article provides an interdisciplinary review of the emerging field of norm dynamics by integrating research across the social sciences through a cultural-evolutionary lens. After reviewing key distinctions in theory and method, we discuss research on norm psychology-the neural and cognitive underpinnings of social norm learning and acquisition. We then overview how norms emerge and spread through intergenerational transmission, social networks, and group-level ecological and historical factors. Next, we discuss multilevel factors that lead norms to persist, change, or erode over time. We also consider cultural mismatches that can arise when a changing environment leads once-beneficial norms to become maladaptive. Finally, we discuss potential future research directions and the implications of norm dynamics for theory and policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele J Gelfand
- Graduate School of Business and Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA;
| | - Sergey Gavrilets
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Nathan Nunn
- Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Meng X, Ishii T, Sugimoto K, Nakawake Y, Moriguchi Y, Kanakogi Y, Watanabe K. Children attribute higher social status to people who have extraordinary capabilities. Cognition 2023; 239:105576. [PMID: 37523827 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
Throughout history, individuals believed to have extraordinary capabilities were generally highly ranked in their communities; this suggests a universal "extraordinary-dominant expectation" in human minds, which may play a key role in religious thought, even in modern societies. This study shows that 5-6-year-old children, who begin to understand real-world causalities regarding how the body and mind of human beings work, predict that individuals who exhibit extraordinary capabilities have higher social status in interactions with individuals who exhibit ordinary capabilities. In Experiment 1, we showed children two individuals achieving goals using either humanly possible or impossible methods, the latter involving simple forms of violation of intuitive psychology (knowing without seeing), physics (flying), or biology (fire breathing). The children clearly judged the latter as surprising and unusual. More importantly, the children predicted that individuals showing extraordinary capabilities will gain contested resources and play a dominant role in interactions with ordinary individuals, indicating a higher social status. Further investigations suggested that the children specifically linked extraordinary capacities to social status, as they did not attribute dominance to individuals who apply surprising/unusual but possible methods (Experiment 2), and that they did not indiscriminately attribute positive characteristics to extraordinary capabilities despite a strong extraordinary-dominant expectation being replicated (Experiment 3). These findings demonstrate that extraordinary-dominant expectations can be observed in childhood across different intuitive knowledge domains, helping understand the cognitive mechanisms of religious thought and the cognitive foundations of hierarchical social systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianwei Meng
- Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
| | - Tatsunori Ishii
- Faculty of Integrated Arts & Social Science, Japan Women's University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kairi Sugimoto
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yo Nakawake
- Department of Social Psychology, Yasuda Women's University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | | | | | - Katsumi Watanabe
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
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Looi JCL. Physician leadership during the current crisis in healthcare: A perspective drawn from anthropological and clinical leadership research. Australas Psychiatry 2023; 31:463-465. [PMID: 37018162 PMCID: PMC10466946 DOI: 10.1177/10398562231169128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES There are ongoing challenges in workforce sustainability and service delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recruiting credible clinical leaders can enhance outcomes through mentoring, leading by example, and creating positive work environments. We investigate the anthropology of, and related research on leadership. CONCLUSIONS Clinical and anthropological research provides strong grounds for investing in clinical leadership. The stability of 'prestige-based' leadership can be contrasted with the outcomes of 'dominance-based' leadership that relies on force, control, and threats. Dominance-based leadership increases the risks of bullying in stressed healthcare organisations. In contrast, expert clinical leaders can exert culturally mediated effects on social learning, team cooperation and morale, and patient outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey C L Looi
- Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, The Australian National University, Medical School of Medicine and Psychology, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT; Australia Consortium of Australian-Academic Psychiatrists for Independent Policy and Research Analysis (CAPIPRA), Canberra, ACT, Australia
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Maner JK, Hasty CR. Life History Strategies, Prestige, and Dominance: An Evolutionary Developmental View of Social Hierarchy. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023; 49:627-641. [PMID: 35227124 DOI: 10.1177/01461672221078667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Although evidence documents the use of prestige and dominance for navigating group hierarchies, little is known about factors that explain people's orientation toward prestige versus dominance. The current research applied a life history perspective to assess the role life history strategies play in prestige and dominance. Four studies document associations between adopting a slow life history strategy and having an orientation toward prestige. We also saw some (less consistent) evidence that people's orientation toward prestige is rooted in exposure to predictable childhood environments, a known antecedent of slow life history strategies. Although we observed some evidence that exposure to unpredictable childhood environments was associated with dominance, there was little direct evidence that this relationship was explained by a fast life history strategy. Findings suggest that an orientation toward prestige is likely to be observed in people with a slow life history, who adopt a long-term time horizon for planning and decision-making.
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Forby L, Anderson NC, Cheng JT, Foulsham T, Karstadt B, Dawson J, Pazhoohi F, Kingstone A. Reading the room: Autistic traits, gaze behaviour, and the ability to infer social relationships. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0282310. [PMID: 36857369 PMCID: PMC9977004 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Individuals high in autistic traits can have difficulty understanding verbal and non-verbal cues, and may display atypical gaze behaviour during social interactions. The aim of this study was to examine differences among neurotypical individuals with high and low levels of autistic traits with regard to their gaze behaviour and their ability to assess peers' social status accurately. Fifty-four university students who completed the 10-item Autism Quotient (AQ-10) were eye-tracked as they watched six 20-second video clips of people ("targets") involved in a group decision-making task. Simulating natural, everyday social interactions, the video clips included moments of debate, humour, interruptions, and cross talk. Results showed that high-scorers on the AQ-10 (i.e., those with more autistic traits) did not differ from the low-scorers in either gaze behaviour or assessing the targets' relative social status. The results based on this neurotypical group of participants suggest that the ability of individuals high in autistic traits to read social cues may be preserved in certain tasks crucial to navigating day-to-day social relationships. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory of mind, weak central coherence, and social motivation theories of autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leilani Forby
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Nicola C. Anderson
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Joey T. Cheng
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Tom Foulsham
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, England
| | - Bradley Karstadt
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Jessica Dawson
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, Essex, England
| | - Farid Pazhoohi
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Alan Kingstone
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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8
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Galesic M, Barkoczi D, Berdahl AM, Biro D, Carbone G, Giannoccaro I, Goldstone RL, Gonzalez C, Kandler A, Kao AB, Kendal R, Kline M, Lee E, Massari GF, Mesoudi A, Olsson H, Pescetelli N, Sloman SJ, Smaldino PE, Stein DL. Beyond collective intelligence: Collective adaptation. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20220736. [PMID: 36946092 PMCID: PMC10031425 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
We develop a conceptual framework for studying collective adaptation in complex socio-cognitive systems, driven by dynamic interactions of social integration strategies, social environments and problem structures. Going beyond searching for 'intelligent' collectives, we integrate research from different disciplines and outline modelling approaches that can be used to begin answering questions such as why collectives sometimes fail to reach seemingly obvious solutions, how they change their strategies and network structures in response to different problems and how we can anticipate and perhaps change future harmful societal trajectories. We discuss the importance of considering path dependence, lack of optimization and collective myopia to understand the sometimes counterintuitive outcomes of collective adaptation. We call for a transdisciplinary, quantitative and societally useful social science that can help us to understand our rapidly changing and ever more complex societies, avoid collective disasters and reach the full potential of our ability to organize in adaptive collectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirta Galesic
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1080 Vienna, Austria
- Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VM 05405, USA
| | | | - Andrew M. Berdahl
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Giuseppe Carbone
- Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Ilaria Giannoccaro
- Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Robert L. Goldstone
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Cleotilde Gonzalez
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Anne Kandler
- Department of Mathematics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Albert B. Kao
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Biology Department, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA
| | - Rachel Kendal
- Centre for Coevolution of Biology and Culture, Durham University, Anthropology Department, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Michelle Kline
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Division of Psychology, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK
| | - Eun Lee
- Department of Scientific Computing, Pukyong National University, 45 Yongso-ro, Nam-gu, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Alex Mesoudi
- Department of Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | | | | | - Sabina J. Sloman
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Paul E. Smaldino
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Daniel L. Stein
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Physics and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
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9
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The evolution of prestige: Perspectives and hypotheses from comparative studies. NEW IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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10
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Engelbert LH, van Elk M, Kandrik M, Theeuwes J, van Vugt M. The effect of charismatic leaders on followers’ memory, error detection, persuasion and prosocial behavior: A cognitive science approach. THE LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2022.101656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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11
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Gavrilets S, Richerson PJ. Authority matters: propaganda and the coevolution of behaviour and attitudes. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e51. [PMID: 37588907 PMCID: PMC10426013 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.48] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Human decision-making is controlled by various factors including material cost-benefit considerations, values and beliefs, social influences, cognitive factors and errors. Among social influences, those by external authorities (e.g. educational, cultural, religious, political, administrative, etc.) are particularly important owing to their potential reach and power. To better understand the effects of 'soft' power of authorities we develop a unifying theoretical framework integrating material, cognitive and social forces controlling the joint dynamics of individual actions and beliefs. We apply our approach to three different phenomena: evolution of food sharing in small-scale societies, participation in political protests and effects of priming social identity in behavioural experiments. For each of these applications, we show that our approach leads to different (or simpler) explanations of human behaviour than alternatives. We highlight the type of measurements which can be helpful in developing practical applications of our approach. We identify and explicitly characterise the degree of mismatch between individual actions and attitudes. We assert that the effects of external authorities, of changing beliefs and of differences between people must be studied empirically, included in mathematical models, and accounted for when developing different policies aiming to modify or sustain human behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergey Gavrilets
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Mathematics, Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN37996, USA
| | - Peter J. Richerson
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA95616, USA
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12
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Integrating cultural evolution and behavioral genetics. Behav Brain Sci 2022; 45:e182. [PMID: 36098400 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22000036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The 29 commentaries amplified our key arguments; offered extensions, implications, and applications of the framework; and pushed back and clarified. To help forge the path forward for cultural evolutionary behavioral genetics, we (1) focus on conceptual disagreements and misconceptions about the concepts of heritability and culture; (2) further discuss points raised about the intertwined relationship between culture and genes; and (3) address extensions to the proposed framework, particularly as it relates to cultural clusters, development, and power. These commentaries, and the deep engagement they represent, reinforce the importance of integrating cultural evolution and behavioral genetics.
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13
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Salem AAMS, Abdelsattar M, Abu Al-Diyar M, Al-Hwailah AH, Derar E, Al-Hamdan NAH, Tilwani SA. Altruistic behaviors and cooperation among gifted adolescents. Front Psychol 2022; 13:945766. [PMID: 36033028 PMCID: PMC9404372 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.945766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study is a differential study that describes the nature of the relationship between cooperation and altruistic behavior in a sample of gifted adolescents in three universities in Egypt and Kuwait University. It also identified the differences between males/females, and senior students/junior students in both cooperation and altruism. A total of 237 gifted adolescents—with average age 21.3 ± SD 2.6 years—from three Egyptian universities: Alexandria University, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, and Suez University (in Egypt), and Kuwait University, were involved in this study. Measures used in the study include the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS), Generative Altruism Scale (GAlS), and The Cooperative/Competitive Strategy Scale (CCSS). Results revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between altruism and cooperation among gifted adolescents. Also, findings show that there are statistically significant differences between males and females in both altruism and cooperation. In addition, there are differences statistically significant between senior students and junior students in both altruism and cooperation in favor of senior students. It is recommended that altruism and cooperation intervention-based programs should be designed to increase the adaptive behaviors of adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashraf Atta M. S. Salem
- College of Management Sciences, Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, Cairo, Egypt
- *Correspondence: Ashraf Atta M. S. Salem
| | | | | | | | - Esraa Derar
- Hurghada Faculty of Education, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt
| | | | - Shouket Ahmad Tilwani
- Department of English, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia
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14
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Cheng JT, Dhaliwal NA, Too MA. When Toughness Begets Respect: Dominant Individuals Gain Prestige and Leadership By Facilitating Intragroup Conflict Resolution. ADAPTIVE HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-022-00196-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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15
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Sankey DWE, Hunt KL, Croft DP, Franks DW, Green PA, Thompson FJ, Johnstone RA, Cant MA. Leaders of war: modelling the evolution of conflict among heterogeneous groups. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210140. [PMID: 35369752 PMCID: PMC8977670 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
War, in human and animal societies, can be extremely costly but can also offer significant benefits to the victorious group. We might expect groups to go into battle when the potential benefits of victory (V) outweigh the costs of escalated conflict (C); however, V and C are unlikely to be distributed evenly in heterogeneous groups. For example, some leaders who make the decision to go to war may monopolize the benefits at little cost to themselves ('exploitative' leaders). By contrast, other leaders may willingly pay increased costs, above and beyond their share of V ('heroic' leaders). We investigated conflict initiation and conflict participation in an ecological model where single-leader-multiple-follower groups came into conflict over natural resources. We found that small group size, low migration rate and frequent interaction between groups increased intergroup competition and the evolution of 'exploitative' leadership, while converse patterns favoured increased intragroup competition and the emergence of 'heroic' leaders. We also found evidence of an alternative leader/follower 'shared effort' outcome. Parameters that favoured high contributing 'heroic' leaders, and low contributing followers, facilitated transitions to more peaceful outcomes. We outline and discuss the key testable predictions of our model for empiricists studying intergroup conflict in humans and animals. This article is part of the theme issue 'Intergroup conflict across taxa'.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. W. E. Sankey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - K. L. Hunt
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - D. P. Croft
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QG, UK
| | - D. W. Franks
- Department of Biology and Department of Computer Science, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - P. A. Green
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - F. J. Thompson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - R. A. Johnstone
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - M. A. Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
- German Primate Centre, University of Göttingen, Göttingen 37077, Germany
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16
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Bellamy A, McKay R, Vogt S, Efferson C. What is the extent of a frequency-dependent social learning strategy space? EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2022; 4:e13. [PMID: 37588895 PMCID: PMC10426114 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2022.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Models of frequency-dependent social learning posit that individuals respond to the commonality of behaviours without additional variables modifying this. Such strategies bring important trade-offs, e.g. conformity is beneficial when observing people facing the same task but harmful when observing those facing a different task. Instead of rigidly responding to frequencies, however, social learners might modulate their response given additional information. To see, we ran an incentivised experiment where participants played either a game against nature or a coordination game. There were three types of information: (a) choice frequencies in a group of demonstrators; (b) an indication of whether these demonstrators learned in a similar or different environment; and (c) an indication about the reliability of this similarity information. Similarity information was either reliably correct, uninformative or reliably incorrect, where reliably correct and reliably incorrect treatments provided participants with equivalent earning opportunities. Participants adjusted their decision-making to all three types of information. Adjustments, however, were asymmetric, with participants doing especially well when conforming to demonstrators who were reliably similar to them. The overall response, however, was more fluid and complex than this one case. This flexibility should attenuate the trade-offs commonly assumed to shape the evolution of frequency-dependent social learning strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aysha Bellamy
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Ryan McKay
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Sonja Vogt
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Charles Efferson
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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17
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Zhu N, Chen BB, Lu HJ, Chang L. Life-history calibration of social hierarchies: Childhood adversity predicts leadership preference through relational social investment. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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18
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Chen Zeng T, Cheng JT, Henrich J. Dominance in humans. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200451. [PMID: 35000450 PMCID: PMC8743883 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Dominance captures behavioural patterns found in social hierarchies that arise from agonistic interactions in which some individuals coercively exploit their control over costs and benefits to extract deference from others, often through aggression, threats and/or intimidation. Accumulating evidence points to its importance in humans and its separation from prestige-an alternate avenue to high status in which status arises from information (e.g. knowledge, skill, etc.) or other non-rival goods. In this review, we provide an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of dominance as a concept within evolutionary biology, discuss the challenges of applying it to humans and consider alternative theoretical accounts which assert that dominance is relevant to understanding status in humans. We then review empirical evidence for its continued importance in human groups, including the effects of dominance-independently of prestige-on measurable outcomes such as social influence and reproductive fitness, evidence for specialized dominance psychology, and evidence for gender-specific effects. Finally, because human-specific factors such as norms and coalitions may place bounds on purely coercive status-attainment strategies, we end by considering key situations and contexts that increase the likelihood for dominance status to coexist alongside prestige status within the same individual, including how: (i) institutional power and authority tend to elicit dominance; (ii) dominance-enhancing traits can at times generate benefits for others (prestige); and (iii) certain dominance cues and ethology may lead to mis-attributions of prestige. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Chen Zeng
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Joey T Cheng
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada
| | - Joseph Henrich
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Burton-Chellew MN, D'Amico V. A preference to learn from successful rather than common behaviours in human social dilemmas. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20211590. [PMID: 34933600 PMCID: PMC8692956 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.1590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cooperation is often claimed to be special and requiring explanations based on gene-culture coevolution favouring a desire to copy common social behaviours. If this is true, then individuals should be motivated to both observe and copy common social behaviours. Previous economic experiments, using the public goods game, have suggested individuals' desire to sacrifice for the common good and to copy common social behaviours. However, previous experiments have often not shown examples of success. Here we test, on 489 participants, whether individuals are more motivated to learn about, and more likely to copy, either common or successful behaviours. Using the same social dilemma and standard instructions, we find that individuals were primarily motivated to learn from successful rather than common behaviours. Consequently, social learning disfavoured costly cooperation, even when individuals could observe a stable, pro-social level of cooperation. Our results call into question explanations for human cooperation based on cultural evolution and/or a desire to conform with common social behaviours. Instead, our results indicate that participants were motivated by personal gain, but initially confused, despite receiving standard instructions. When individuals could learn from success, they learned to cooperate less, suggesting that human cooperation is maybe not so special after all.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell N. Burton-Chellew
- Department of Economics, HEC-University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Victoire D'Amico
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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20
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Social Learning Strategies and Cooperative Behaviour: Evidence of Payoff Bias, but Not Prestige or Conformity, in a Social Dilemma Game. GAMES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/g12040089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Human cooperation, occurring without reciprocation and between unrelated individuals in large populations, represents an evolutionary puzzle. One potential explanation is that cooperative behaviour may be transmitted between individuals via social learning. Using an online social dilemma experiment, we find evidence that participants’ contributions were more consistent with payoff-biased transmission than prestige-biased transmission or conformity. We also found some evidence for lower cooperation (i) when exposed to social information about peer cooperation levels than without such information, and (ii) in the prisoners’ dilemma game compared to the snowdrift game. A simulation model established that the observed cooperation was more likely to be caused by participants’ general propensity to cooperate than by the effect of social learning strategies employed within the experiment, but that this cooperative propensity could be reduced through selection. Overall, our results support previous experimental evidence indicating the role of payoff-biased transmission in explaining cooperative behaviour, but we find that this effect was small and was overwhelmed by participants’ general propensity for cooperation.
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21
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Garfield ZH, Schacht R, Post ER, Ingram D, Uehling A, Macfarlan SJ. The content and structure of reputation domains across human societies: a view from the evolutionary social sciences. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200296. [PMID: 34601916 PMCID: PMC8487742 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Reputations are an essential feature of human sociality and the evolution of cooperation and group living. Much scholarship has focused on reputations, yet typically on a narrow range of domains (e.g. prosociality and aggressiveness), usually in isolation. Humans can develop reputations, however, from any collective information. We conducted exploratory analyses on the content, distribution and structure of reputation domain diversity across cultures, using the Human Relations Area Files ethnographic database. After coding ethnographic texts on reputations from 153 cultures, we used hierarchical modelling, cluster analysis and text analysis to provide an empirical view of reputation domains across societies. Findings suggest: (i) reputational domains vary cross-culturally, yet reputations for cultural conformity, prosociality, social status and neural capital are widespread; (ii) reputation domains are more variable for males than females; and (iii) particular reputation domains are interrelated, demonstrating a structure consistent with dimensions of human uniqueness. We label these features: cultural group unity, dominance, neural capital, sexuality, social and material success and supernatural healing. We highlight the need for future research on the evolution of cooperation and human sociality to consider a wider range of reputation domains, as well as their social, ecological and gender-specific variability. This article is part of the theme issue 'The language of cooperation: reputation and honest signalling'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary H. Garfield
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Université de Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France
| | - Ryan Schacht
- Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
| | - Emily R. Post
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Dominique Ingram
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Andrea Uehling
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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22
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Dumas M, Barker JL, Power EA. When does reputation lie? Dynamic feedbacks between costly signals, social capital and social prominence. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200298. [PMID: 34601919 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Performing a dramatic act of religious devotion, creating an art exhibit, or releasing a new product are all examples of public acts that signal quality and contribute to building a reputation. Signalling theory predicts that these public displays can reliably reveal quality. However, data from ethnographic work in South India suggests that more prominent individuals gain more from reputation-building religious acts than more marginalized individuals. To understand this phenomenon, we extend signalling theory to include variation in people's social prominence or social capital, first with an analytical model and then with an agent-based model. We consider two ways in which social prominence/capital may alter signalling: (i) it impacts observers' priors, and (ii) it alters the signallers' pay-offs. These two mechanisms can result in both a 'reputational shield,' where low quality individuals are able to 'pass' as high quality thanks to their greater social prominence/capital, and a 'reputational poverty trap,' where high quality individuals are unable to improve their standing owing to a lack of social prominence/capital. These findings bridge the signalling theory tradition prominent in behavioural ecology, anthropology and economics with the work on status hierarchies in sociology, and shed light on the complex ways in which individuals make inferences about others. This article is part of the theme issue 'The language of cooperation: reputation and honest signalling'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marion Dumas
- Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics & Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Jessica L Barker
- Aarhus University Interacting Minds Centre, Alaska Dept of Health & Social Services, Aarhus 8000, Denmark
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Oommen MA, Shanker K. Signals from the Hunt: Widening the Spectrum on Male Pursuits of Dangerous Animals. JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021. [DOI: 10.1086/715404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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24
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How small-scale societies achieve large-scale cooperation. Curr Opin Psychol 2021; 44:44-48. [PMID: 34562700 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
For most of our species' history, humans have lived in relatively small subsistence communities, often called small-scale societies. While these groups lack centralized institutions, they can and often do maintain large-scale cooperation. Here, we explore several mechanisms promoting cooperation in small-scale societies, including (a) the development of social norms that encourage prosocial behavior, (b) reciprocal exchange relationships, (c) reputation that facilitates high-cost cooperation, (d) relational wealth, and (e) risk buffering institutions. We illustrate these with ethnographic and psychological evidence from contemporary small-scale societies. We argue that these mechanisms for cooperation helped past and present small-scale communities adapt to diverse ecological and social niches.
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Berl RE, Samarasinghe AN, Roberts SG, Jordan FM, Gavin MC. Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2021; 3:e42. [PMID: 37588523 PMCID: PMC10427335 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2021.37] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Cultural transmission biases such as prestige are thought to have been a primary driver in shaping the dynamics of human cultural evolution. However, few empirical studies have measured the importance of prestige relative to other effects, such as content biases present within the information being transmitted. Here, we report the findings of an experimental transmission study designed to compare the simultaneous effects of a model using a high- or low-prestige regional accent with the presence of narrative content containing social, survival, emotional, moral, rational, or counterintuitive information in the form of a creation story. Results from multimodel inference reveal that prestige is a significant factor in determining the salience and recall of information, but that several content biases, specifically social, survival, negative emotional, and biological counterintuitive information, are significantly more influential. Further, we find evidence that reliance on prestige cues may serve as a conditional learning strategy when no content cues are available. Our results demonstrate that content biases serve a vital and underappreciated role in cultural transmission and cultural evolution. Social media summary: Storyteller and tale are both key to memorability, but some content is more important than the storyteller's prestige.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard E.W. Berl
- Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO80523-1480, USA
| | - Alarna N. Samarasinghe
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Seán G. Roberts
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Fiona M. Jordan
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Michael C. Gavin
- Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO80523-1480, USA
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
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26
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Ketterman AB, Maner JK. Complaisant or coercive? The role of dominance and prestige in social influence. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110814] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Powers ST, van Schaik CP, Lehmann L. Cooperation in large-scale human societies-What, if anything, makes it unique, and how did it evolve? Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:280-293. [PMID: 34085349 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Revised: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
To resolve the major controversy about why prosocial behaviors persist in large-scale human societies, we propose that two questions need to be answered. First, how do social interactions in small-scale and large-scale societies differ? By reviewing the exchange and collective-action dilemmas in both small-scale and large-scale societies, we show they are not different. Second, are individual decision-making mechanisms driven by self-interest? We extract from the literature three types of individual decision-making mechanism, which differ in their social influence and sensitivity to self-interest, to conclude that humans interacting with non-relatives are largely driven by self-interest. We then ask: what was the key mechanism that allowed prosocial behaviors to continue as societies grew? We show the key role played by new social interaction mechanisms-change in the rules of exchange and collective-action dilemmas-devised by the interacting individuals, which allow for self-interested individuals to remain prosocial as societies grow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon T Powers
- School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Laurent Lehmann
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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28
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Baten RA, Aslin RN, Ghoshal G, Hoque E. Cues to gender and racial identity reduce creativity in diverse social networks. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10261. [PMID: 33986339 PMCID: PMC8119436 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89498-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The characteristics of social partners have long been hypothesized as influential in guiding group interactions. Understanding how demographic cues impact networks of creative collaborators is critical for elevating creative performances therein. We conducted a randomized experiment to investigate how the knowledge of peers’ gender and racial identities distorts people’s connection patterns and the resulting creative outcomes in a dynamic social network. Consistent with prior work, we found that creative inspiration links are primarily formed with top idea-generators. However, when gender and racial identities are known, not only is there (1) an increase of \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$82.03\%$$\end{document}82.03% in the odds of same-gender connections to persist (but not for same-race connections), but (2) the semantic similarity of idea-sets stimulated by these connections also increase significantly compared to demography-agnostic networks, negatively impacting the outcomes of divergent creativity. We found that ideas tend to be significantly more homogeneous within demographic groups than between, taking away diversity-bonuses from similarity-based links and partly explaining the results. These insights can inform intelligent interventions to enhance network-wide creative performances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raiyan Abdul Baten
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Richard N Aslin
- Haskins Laboratories and Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Gourab Ghoshal
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Ehsan Hoque
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA. .,Department of Computer Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
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29
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Zeigler-Hill V, Sauls D, Ochoa V, Kopitz J, Besser A. Narcissism and Motives to Pursue Status Through the Use of Dominance-Based Strategies, Prestige-Based Strategies, and Leadership-Based Strategies. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-021-00278-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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30
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Redhead D, Dhaliwal N, Cheng JT. Taking charge and stepping in: Individuals who punish are rewarded with prestige and dominance. SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/spc3.12581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Redhead
- Department of Human Behaviour Ecology and Culture Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Nathan Dhaliwal
- Sauder School of Business University of British Columbia Vancouver Canada
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31
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Bisbey TM, Kilcullen MP, Thomas EJ, Ottosen MJ, Tsao K, Salas E. Safety Culture: An Integration of Existing Models and a Framework for Understanding Its Development. HUMAN FACTORS 2021; 63:88-110. [PMID: 31424954 DOI: 10.1177/0018720819868878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study reviews theoretical models of organizational safety culture to uncover key factors in safety culture development. BACKGROUND Research supports the important role of safety culture in organizations, but theoretical progress has been stunted by a disjointed literature base. It is currently unclear how different elements of an organizational system function to influence safety culture, limiting the practical utility of important research findings. METHOD We reviewed existing models of safety culture and categorized model dimensions by the proposed function they serve in safety culture development. We advance a framework grounded in theory on organizational culture, social identity, and social learning to facilitate convergence toward a unified approach to studying and supporting safety culture. RESULTS Safety culture is a relatively stable social construct, gradually shaped over time by multilevel influences. We identify seven enabling factors that create conditions allowing employees to adopt safety culture values, assumptions, and norms; and four behaviors used to enact them. The consequences of these enacting behaviors provide feedback that may reinforce or revise held values, assumptions, and norms. CONCLUSION This framework synthesizes information across fragmented conceptualizations to clearly depict the dynamic nature of safety culture and specific drivers of its development. We suggest that safety culture development may depend on employee learning from behavioral outcomes, conducive enabling factors, and consistency over time. APPLICATION This framework guides efforts to understand and develop safety culture in practice and lends researchers a foundation for advancing theory on the complex, dynamic processes involved in safety culture development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - KuoJen Tsao
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA
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32
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Zhu N, Chen B, Lu HJ, Chang L. Life History-related Traits Predict Preferences for Dominant or Prestigious Leaders. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-020-00274-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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33
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Morgan TJH, Thompson B. Biased transformation erases traditions sustained by conformist transmission. Biol Lett 2020; 16:20200660. [PMID: 33232652 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Conformist transmission is a cognitively simple decision-making process by which observers are disproportionately likely to follow the majority. It has been studied in multiple species because theory suggests it can create stable cultural variation. However, the current theory assumes that while conformist transmission favours the majority, it is otherwise unbiased and does not systematically transform information, even though such biases are widely documented. Here, we relax this assumption, requiring conformist observers to infer the size of the majority from finite observations of their group mates. Because such inference can be subject to bias, it can lead to the biased transformation of transmitted information. We find that when individuals are biased (even weakly) the capacity of conformist transmission to sustain traditions is reduced and, in many cases, removed entirely. This suggests that the emphasis on conformist transmission as a source of stable cultural variation may be misplaced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J H Morgan
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, 900 S. Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.,Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, 951 S. Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Bill Thompson
- Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, 35 Olden St, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
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Zeigler-Hill V, Besser A, Besser Y. The Negative Consequences of Stuttering for Perceptions of Leadership Ability. JOURNAL OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. The purpose of the present study was to extend previous research concerning the negative perceptions of stuttering by considering the perceived leadership ability of targets who stuttered compared with targets who did not stutter. We were also interested in the possibility that negative perceptions of the targets (i.e., low levels of self-esteem, intelligence, dominance-based status motivation, and prestige-based status motivation) would mediate the association between stuttering and a lack of perceived leadership ability as well as the possibility that manipulating the ostensible self-esteem level of the target would further moderate these associations. The results for 838 Israeli community members revealed a negative association between stuttering and perceived leadership ability that was mediated by the perceived self-esteem level and dominance-based status motivation of the target. Further, the associations between stuttering and perceptions of leadership ability were moderated by the ostensible self-esteem level of the target. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the negative halo that surrounds stuttering.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Avi Besser
- Department of Communication Disorders, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yuval Besser
- Department of Communication Disorders, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem, Israel
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35
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Self-competence increases the willingness to pay for social influence. Sci Rep 2020; 10:17813. [PMID: 33082465 PMCID: PMC7576769 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-74857-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Theoretical works in social psychology and neuroscientific evidence have proposed that social rewards have intrinsic value, suggesting that people place a high premium on the ability to influence others. To test this hypothesis, we asked whether, and under what conditions, people are willing to forgo monetary reward for the sake of influencing others' decisions. In four experiments, online and lab-based participants competed with a rival for influence over a client. The majority of participants sacrificed some of their financial reward to increase their chance of being selected over their rival within the experiment. Willingness to pay was affected by the participant's current level of influence and performance, as participants were most likely to pay to promote their competence after having given good advice that had been ignored by the client using a situation where monetary incentives fail to explain human motivations, our experiments highlight the intrinsic value of social influence.
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Abstract
Humans are an ultrasocial species. This sociality, however, cannot be fully explained by the canonical approaches found in evolutionary biology, psychology, or economics. Understanding our unique social psychology requires accounting not only for the breadth and intensity of human cooperation but also for the variation found across societies, over history, and among behavioral domains. Here, we introduce an expanded evolutionary approach that considers how genetic and cultural evolution, and their interaction, may have shaped both the reliably developing features of our minds and the well-documented differences in cultural psychologies around the globe. We review the major evolutionary mechanisms that have been proposed to explain human cooperation, including kinship, reciprocity, reputation, signaling, and punishment; we discuss key culture-gene coevolutionary hypotheses, such as those surrounding self-domestication and norm psychology; and we consider the role of religions and marriage systems. Empirically, we synthesize experimental and observational evidence from studies of children and adults from diverse societies with research among nonhuman primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Henrich
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA;
| | - Michael Muthukrishna
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom;
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37
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Garfield ZH, Syme KL, Hagen EH. Universal and variable leadership dimensions across human societies. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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38
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Samu F, Számadó S, Takács K. Scarce and directly beneficial reputations support cooperation. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11486. [PMID: 32661258 PMCID: PMC7359363 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68123-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
A human solution to the problem of cooperation is the maintenance of informal reputation hierarchies. Reputational information contributes to cooperation by providing guidelines about previous group-beneficial or free-rider behaviour in social dilemma interactions. How reputation information could be credible, however, remains a puzzle. We test two potential safeguards to ensure credibility: (i) reputation is a scarce resource and (ii) it is not earned for direct benefits. We test these solutions in a laboratory experiment in which participants played two-person Prisoner's Dilemma games without partner selection, could observe some other interactions, and could communicate reputational information about possible opponents to each other. Reputational information clearly influenced cooperation decisions. Although cooperation was not sustained at a high level in any of the conditions, the possibility of exchanging third-party information was able to temporarily increase the level of strategic cooperation when reputation was a scarce resource and reputational scores were directly translated into monetary benefits. We found that competition for monetary rewards or unrestricted non-monetary reputational rewards helped the reputation system to be informative. Finally, we found that high reputational scores are reinforced further as they are rewarded with positive messages, and positive gossip was leading to higher reputations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flóra Samu
- The Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, 601 74, Norrköping, Sweden.
- Doctoral School of Sociology, Corvinus University of Budapest, Fővám tér 8, Budapest, 1018, Hungary.
- Centre for Social Sciences (TK CSS) 'Lendület' Research Center for Educational and Network Studies (CSS-RECENS), Tóth Kálmán u. 4, Budapest, 1097, Hungary.
| | - Szabolcs Számadó
- Centre for Social Sciences (TK CSS) 'Lendület' Research Center for Educational and Network Studies (CSS-RECENS), Tóth Kálmán u. 4, Budapest, 1097, Hungary
- Department of Sociology and Communication, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry J. u. 1, Budapest, 1111, Hungary
- Evolutionary Systems Research Group, Centre for Ecological Research, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3, Tihany, 8237, Hungary
| | - Károly Takács
- The Institute for Analytical Sociology, Linköping University, 601 74, Norrköping, Sweden
- Centre for Social Sciences (TK CSS) 'Lendület' Research Center for Educational and Network Studies (CSS-RECENS), Tóth Kálmán u. 4, Budapest, 1097, Hungary
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A Relational Approach to Studying Collective Action in Dairy Cooperatives Producing Mountain Cheeses in the Alps: The Case of the Primiero Cooperative in the Eastern Italians Alps. SUSTAINABILITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/su12114596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Compared with more productive areas, mountain areas are at risk of being marginalized, particularly in the agri-food sector. To circumvent price competition, local actors in the mountains can develop specialized local products, which depends on their capacity to act collectively. Collective action, however, is complex and needs to be better understood if it is to steer initiatives towards success. This article sets out a relational approach to studying collective action in a dairy cooperative located in a mountain area: The Primiero cooperative in the Italian Alps. The common pool resources and territorial proximity frameworks were combined in a social network analysis of advice interactions among producer members, and an analysis of trust and conflict among members and between members and other actors involved in the value chain. The results show that the success of collective action can be explained by various complementary factors. Firstly, members had dense relationships, with high levels of trust and reciprocity, while the president had the role of prestige-based leader. Nonetheless, the analysis also highlighted conflicts related to the production levels of “traditional” and “intensive” producers, although members demonstrated a high capacity to resolve conflicts by creating their own rules to control further intensification. Socio-economic status did not appear to play a role in advice relationships, showing that the members interact horizontally. However, the results show that the geographical isolation of some members tended to inhibit their commitment to the collective dynamics. At a higher level, trust toward other actors involved in the value chain plays a central role in carrying out joint projects to develop and promote cheese.
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40
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Cheng JT. Dominance, prestige, and the role of leveling in human social hierarchy and equality. Curr Opin Psychol 2020; 33:238-244. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Revised: 10/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Almaatouq A, Noriega-Campero A, Alotaibi A, Krafft PM, Moussaid M, Pentland A. Adaptive social networks promote the wisdom of crowds. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:11379-11386. [PMID: 32393632 PMCID: PMC7260971 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1917687117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Social networks continuously change as new ties are created and existing ones fade. It is widely acknowledged that our social embedding has a substantial impact on what information we receive and how we form beliefs and make decisions. However, most empirical studies on the role of social networks in collective intelligence have overlooked the dynamic nature of social networks and its role in fostering adaptive collective intelligence. Therefore, little is known about how groups of individuals dynamically modify their local connections and, accordingly, the topology of the network of interactions to respond to changing environmental conditions. In this paper, we address this question through a series of behavioral experiments and supporting simulations. Our results reveal that, in the presence of plasticity and feedback, social networks can adapt to biased and changing information environments and produce collective estimates that are more accurate than their best-performing member. To explain these results, we explore two mechanisms: 1) a global-adaptation mechanism where the structural connectivity of the network itself changes such that it amplifies the estimates of high-performing members within the group (i.e., the network "edges" encode the computation); and 2) a local-adaptation mechanism where accurate individuals are more resistant to social influence (i.e., adjustments to the attributes of the "node" in the network); therefore, their initial belief is disproportionately weighted in the collective estimate. Our findings substantiate the role of social-network plasticity and feedback as key adaptive mechanisms for refining individual and collective judgments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdullah Almaatouq
- Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142;
- Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | | | | | - P M Krafft
- Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3JS, United Kingdom
| | - Mehdi Moussaid
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Alex Pentland
- Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
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42
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The evolution of leadership: Leadership and followership as a solution to the problem of creating and executing successful coordination and cooperation enterprises. LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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43
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Investigating evolutionary models of leadership among recently settled Ethiopian hunter-gatherers. LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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44
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Cheng JT, Tracy JL. Why Social Status Is Essential (But Sometimes Insufficient) for Leadership. Trends Cogn Sci 2020; 24:261-263. [PMID: 32160561 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/15/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joey T Cheng
- Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Jessica L Tracy
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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45
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Ronay R, Maddux WW, von Hippel W. Inequality rules: Resource distribution and the evolution of dominance- and prestige-based leadership. THE LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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46
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Smith D. Cultural group selection and human cooperation: a conceptual and empirical review. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2020; 2:e2. [PMID: 37588374 PMCID: PMC10427285 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2020.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Cultural group selection has been proposed as an explanation for humans' highly cooperative nature. This theory argues that social learning mechanisms, combined with rewards and punishment, can stabilise any group behaviour, cooperative or not. Equilibrium selection can then operate, resulting in cooperative groups outcompeting less-cooperative groups. This process may explain the widespread cooperation between non-kin observed in humans, which is sometimes claimed to be altruistic. This review explores the assumptions of cultural group selection to assess whether it provides a convincing explanation for human cooperation. Although competition between cultural groups certainly occurs, it is unclear whether this process depends on specific social learning mechanisms (e.g. conformism) or a norm psychology (to indiscriminately punish norm-violators) to stabilise groups at different equilibria as proposed by existing cultural group selection models. Rather than unquestioningly adopt group norms and institutions, individuals and groups appear to evaluate, design and shape them for self-interested reasons (where possible). As individual fitness is frequently tied to group fitness, this often coincides with constructing group-beneficial norms and institutions, especially when groups are in conflict. While culture is a vital component underlying our species' success, the extent to which current conceptions of cultural group selection reflect human cooperative evolution remains unclear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Smith
- Bristol Medical School, Population Health Sciences, University of Bristol, BristolBS8 2BN, UK
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47
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Liberman U, Ram Y, Altenberg L, Feldman MW. The evolution of frequency-dependent cultural transmission. Theor Popul Biol 2019; 132:69-81. [PMID: 31866423 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2019.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In a model of vertical and oblique cultural transmission of a dichotomous trait, the rates of transmission of each form of the trait are functions of the trait frequency in the population. Sufficient conditions on these functions are derived for a stable trait polymorphism to exist. If the vertical transmission rates are monotone decreasing functions of the trait frequency, a complete global stability analysis is presented. It is also shown that a unique protected polymorphism can be globally stable even though the sufficient conditions are not met. The evolution of frequency-dependent transmission is modeled using modifier theory, and exact conditions are derived for a transmission modifier to invade a population at a stable polymorphism. Finally, the interaction between frequency-dependent selection and frequency-dependent transmission is explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uri Liberman
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel.
| | - Yoav Ram
- School of Computer Science, IDC Herzliya, Herzliya, 4610101, Israel.
| | - Lee Altenberg
- Information and Computer Sciences, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States of America.
| | - Marcus W Feldman
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, United States of America.
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48
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Lenfesty HL, Morgan TJH. By Reverence, Not Fear: Prestige, Religion, and Autonomic Regulation in the Evolution of Cooperation. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2750. [PMID: 31920807 PMCID: PMC6927986 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent evolutionary theories of religions emphasize their function as mechanisms for increasing prosociality. In particular, they claim that fear of supernatural punishment can be adaptive when it can compensate for humans' inability to monitor behavior and mete out punishment in large groups, as well when it can inhibit individuals' impulses for defection. Nonetheless, while fear of punishment may inhibit some anti-social behaviors like cheating, it is unlikely to motivate other prosocial behaviors, like helping. This is because human physiology has evolved separate neurological systems with differential behavioral correlates either for (1) processing fear and responding to threats or (2) facilitating social interactions in environments which are deemed safe. Almost all vertebrates possess autonomic pathways for processing threats and fear, which result in "fight," "flight," or "freeze" responses and so likely mediate interactions in dominance hierarchies. Mammals, however, possess an additional, phylogenetically newer, pathway dedicated to suppressing such defensive responses in the service of promoting social affiliation or engagement. Here, we argue that this mammalian physiology supports an alternative hierarchical system unique to humans: prestige. In contrast to dominance, which involves aversion, fear and shame, prestige hierarchies are characterized by physical proximity and eye-contact, as well as emotions like admiration and respect for leaders. Prestige also directs the flow of cultural information between individuals and has been argued to have evolved in order to help individuals acquire high quality information. Here, we argue that not only does the mammalian autonomic pathway support prestige hierarchies, but that coupled with prestige biased social learning, it opens up a means for prestigious figures, including deities, to support the spread of prosocial behaviors. Thus, in addition to theories that emphasizes religious fear as a motivating factor in the evolution of prosocial religions, we suggest that reverence - which includes awe and respect for, deference to, admiration of, and a desire to please a deity or supernatural agent - is likely just as important. In support of this, we identify cases of religions that appear to be defined predominantly by prestige dynamics, and not fear of supernatural punishment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hillary L. Lenfesty
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Thomas J. H. Morgan
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
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49
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Van Vugt M, Smith JE. A Dual Model of Leadership and Hierarchy: Evolutionary Synthesis. Trends Cogn Sci 2019; 23:952-967. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 08/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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50
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Thomsen L. The developmental origins of social hierarchy: how infants and young children mentally represent and respond to power and status. Curr Opin Psychol 2019; 33:201-208. [PMID: 31783337 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The learnability problem of social life suggests that innate mental representations and motives to navigate adaptive relationships have evolved. Like other species, preverbal human infants form dominance hierarchies where some systematically supplant others in zero-sum conflict, and use the formidability cues of body and coalition size, as well as previous win-lose history, to predict who will prevail. Like other primates, human toddlers also seek to affiliate with allies of high rank, but unlike bonobos they pay unique attention whether others voluntarily defer to their precedence, reflecting the importance of consensual authority in cooperative human society. However, young children appear not to readily infer authority from benevolence, and expectations for inequality correlate with unwillingness to share resources even among infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lotte Thomsen
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Problemveien 7, 0315 Oslo, Norway; Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 7, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
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