1
|
Kopp KS, Kanngiesser P, Brügger RK, Daum MM, Gampe A, Köster M, van Schaik CP, Liebal K, Burkart JM. The proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour: towards a conceptual framework for comparative research. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:5. [PMID: 38429436 PMCID: PMC10907469 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01846-w] [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: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Humans and many other animal species act in ways that benefit others. Such prosocial behaviour has been studied extensively across a range of disciplines over the last decades, but findings to date have led to conflicting conclusions about prosociality across and even within species. Here, we present a conceptual framework to study the proximate regulation of prosocial behaviour in humans, non-human primates and potentially other animals. We build on psychological definitions of prosociality and spell out three key features that need to be in place for behaviour to count as prosocial: benefitting others, intentionality, and voluntariness. We then apply this framework to review observational and experimental studies on sharing behaviour and targeted helping in human children and non-human primates. We show that behaviours that are usually subsumed under the same terminology (e.g. helping) can differ substantially across and within species and that some of them do not fulfil our criteria for prosociality. Our framework allows for precise mapping of prosocial behaviours when retrospectively evaluating studies and offers guidelines for future comparative work.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kathrin S Kopp
- Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Patricia Kanngiesser
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
| | - Rahel K Brügger
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Moritz M Daum
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Anja Gampe
- Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
| | - Moritz Köster
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Institute of Psychology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Carel P van Schaik
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Katja Liebal
- Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Judith M Burkart
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
De Dreu CKW, Gross J, Romano A. Group Formation and the Evolution of Human Social Organization. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:320-334. [PMID: 37450408 PMCID: PMC10913362 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231179156] [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] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Humans operate in groups that are oftentimes nested in multilayered collectives such as work units within departments and companies, neighborhoods within cities, and regions within nation states. With psychological science mostly focusing on proximate reasons for individuals to join existing groups and how existing groups function, we still poorly understand why groups form ex nihilo, how groups evolve into complex multilayered social structures, and what explains fission-fusion dynamics. Here we address group formation and the evolution of social organization at both the proximate and ultimate level of analysis. Building on models of fitness interdependence and cooperation, we propose that socioecologies can create positive interdependencies among strangers and pave the way for the formation of stable coalitions and groups through reciprocity and reputation-based partner selection. Such groups are marked by in-group bounded, parochial cooperation together with an array of social institutions for managing the commons, allowing groups to scale in size and complexity while avoiding the breakdown of cooperation. Our analysis reveals how distinct group cultures can endogenously emerge from reciprocal cooperation, shows that social identification and group commitment are likely consequences rather than causes of group cooperation, and explains when intergroup relations gravitate toward peaceful coexistence, integration, or conflict.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Jörg Gross
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Engelhardt SC, Weladji RB, Holand Ø, Røed KH, Nieminen M. Evidence suggesting that reindeer mothers allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0295497. [PMID: 38096314 PMCID: PMC10721201 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Allonursing is the nursing of the offspring of other mothers. Cooperation is an emergent property of evolved decision rules. Cooperation can be explained by at least three evolved decision rules: 1) direct reciprocity, i.e. help someone who previously helped you, 2) kin discrimination, i.e. preferentially direct help to kin than to non-kin, and 3) generalized reciprocity, i.e. help anyone if helped by someone. We assessed if semi-domesticated reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, mothers allonursed according to the decision rules of direct reciprocity, generalized reciprocity and kin discrimination over 2 years. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the direct reciprocity decision rule, we predicted that mothers should give more help to those who previously helped them more often. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the kin discrimination decision rule, we predicted that help given should increase as pairwise genetic relatedness increased. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the generalized reciprocity decision rule, we predicted that the overall number of help given by reindeer mothers should increase as the overall number of help received by reindeer mothers increased. The number of help given i) increased as the number of help received from the same partner increased in the 2012 group but not in both 2013 groups, ii) was not influenced by relatedness, and iii) was not influenced by an interaction between the number of help received from the same partner and relatedness. iv) The overall number of help given increased as the overall number of help received increased. The results did not support the prediction that reindeer mothers allonursed according to the kin discrimination decision rule. The results suggest that reindeer mothers may allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sacha C. Engelhardt
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology und Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Hinterkappelen, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Robert B. Weladji
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Øystein Holand
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Viken, Norway
| | - Knut H. Røed
- Department of Preclinical Sciences and Pathology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mauri Nieminen
- Natural Resources Institute Finland Luke, Reindeer Research Station, Kaamanen, Lapland, Finland
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Sauciuc GA, Persson T. Empirical challenges from the comparative and developmental literature to the Shared Intentionality Theory - a review of alternative data on recursive mind reading, prosociality, imitation and cumulative culture. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1157137. [PMID: 37901066 PMCID: PMC10613111 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1157137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans have an irresistible inclination to coordinate actions with others, leading to species-unique forms of cooperation. According to the highly influential Shared Intentionality Theory (SITh), human cooperation is made possible by shared intentionality (SI), typically defined as a suite of socio-cognitive and motivational traits for sharing psychological states with others, thereby enabling individuals to engage in joint action in the mutually aware pursuit of shared goals. SITh theorises that SI evolved as late as 400,000 years ago, when our ancestors (in particular, Homo heidelbergensis) turned to a kind of food procurement that obligatorily required joint coordinated action. SI is, thus, hypothesized to be absent in other extant species, including our closest genetic relatives, the nonhuman great apes ("apes"). According to SITh, ape psychology is exclusively driven by individualistic motivations, as opposed to human psychology which is uniquely driven by altruistic motivations. The evolutionary scenario proposed by SITh builds on a series of findings from socio-cognitive research with apes and human children, and on the assumption that abilities expressed early in human development are human universals, unlikely to have been shaped by socio-cultural influences. Drawing on the primatological and developmental literature, we provide a systematic - albeit selective - review of SITh-inconsistent findings concerning psychological and behavioural traits theorised to be constitutive of SI. The findings we review pertain to all three thematic clusters typically addressed in SITh: (i) recursive mind reading; (ii) prosociality; (iii) imitation and cumulative culture. We conclude that such alternative data undermine two core SITh claims: the late evolutionary emergence of SI and the radical divide between ape and human psychology. We also discuss several conceptual and methodological limitations that currently hamper reliable comparative research on SI, in particular those engendered by Western-centric biases in the social sciences, where an overreliance on Western samples has promoted the formulation of Western-centric conceptualisations, operationalisations and methodologies.
Collapse
|
5
|
Phelps JR, Pitogo KME, Emit AT, Hill K. Inter-household transfers of material goods among Sama "sea nomads" of the Philippines: Reciprocity, helping, signaling, or something else? PLoS One 2023; 18:e0290270. [PMID: 37616297 PMCID: PMC10449209 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The extent to which humans share with both kin and non-kin is a defining characteristic of our species. Evolutionary research suggests that pervasive reliance on inter-individual transfers of goods and services may have evolved to support a cooperative breeding adaptation in humans. However, while intensive food sharing between individuals and families has frequently been investigated in small-scale human societies, a comprehensive analysis of the daily transfers of all material goods has not been attempted. Likewise, while much previous research on cooperative transfers focused on terrestrial foraging populations, less attention is paid to other small-scale economic modalities traditionally inhabited by humans. Drawing on over three years' worth of interviews and observational data from a community of primarily ethnic Sama people residing along the coast of Southern Mindanao Island in the Philippines, this paper examines the overall transfer patterns of material goods in a marine foraging economy. A quantitative description of resource acquisition is followed by an in-depth exploration of the characteristics of individual households and household dyads who gave and/or received more during the study period. Results indicate that a household's age and income are consistently correlated with increased inflow and outflow of material goods. Results also suggest differential motivations underlie inter-household sharing of food, money, and other goods in the study community. Most importantly, we find that both daily and long-term reciprocity overwhelmingly drive sharing within household dyads in the study community, despite secondary effects of kinship, relative need, and relative household age between household dyads.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Julia R. Phelps
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Kier Mitchel E. Pitogo
- Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
| | - Angelica T. Emit
- Department of Marine Biology, Mindanao State University, General Santos, South Cotabato, Philippines
| | - Kim Hill
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Smith JE, Natterson-Horowitz B, Mueller MM, Alfaro ME. Mechanisms of equality and inequality in mammalian societies. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220307. [PMID: 37381860 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The extent of (in)equality is highly diverse across species of social mammals, but we have a poor understanding of the factors that produce or inhibit equitable social organizations. Here, we adopt a comparative evolutionary perspective to test whether the evolution of social dominance hierarchies, a measure of social inequality in animals, exhibits phylogenetic conservatism and whether interspecific variation in these traits can be explained by sex, age or captivity. We find that hierarchy steepness and directional consistency evolve rapidly without any apparent constraint from evolutionary history. Given this extraordinary variability, we next consider multiple factors that have evolved to mitigate social inequality. Social networks, coalitionary support and knowledge transfer advantage to privilege some individuals over others. Nutritional access and prenatal stressors can impact the development of offspring, generating health disparities with intergenerational consequences. Intergenerational transfer of material resources (e.g. stone tools, food stashes, territories) advantage those who receive. Nonetheless, many of the same social species that experience unequal access to food (survival) and mates (reproduction) engage in levelling mechanisms such as food sharing, adoption, revolutionary coalitions, forgiveness and inequity aversion. Taken together, mammals rely upon a suite of mechanisms of (in)equality to balance the costs and benefits of group living. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolutionary ecology of inequality'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer E Smith
- Biology Department, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA
| | - Barbara Natterson-Horowitz
- School of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of California, 650 Charles Young Drive South, A2-237 CHS, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Maddison M Mueller
- Biology Department, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA
| | - Michael E Alfaro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 2149 Terasaki Life Sciences Building, 612 Charles E. Young Drive South, Box 957246, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7246, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Smith JE, Jaeggi AV, Holmes RK, Silk JB. Sex differences in cooperative coalitions: a mammalian perspective. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210426. [PMID: 36440559 PMCID: PMC9703251 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In group-living species, cooperative tactics can offset asymmetries in resource-holding potential between individuals and alter the outcome of intragroup conflicts. Differences in the kinds of competitive pressures that males and females face might influence the benefits they gain from forming intragroup coalitions. We predicted that there would be a female bias in intragroup coalitions because females (1) are more like to live with kin than males are, and (2) compete over resources that are more readily shared than resources males compete over. We tested this main prediction using information about coalition formation across mammalian species and phylogenetic comparative analyses. We found that for nearly all species in which intragroup coalitions occur, members of both sexes participate, making this the typical mammalian pattern. The presence and frequency of female or male coalitions were not strongly associated with key socio-ecological factors like resource defensibility, sexual dimorphism or philopatry. This suggests that once the ability to form intragroup coalitions emerges in one sex, it is likely to emerge in the other sex as well and that there is no strong phylogenetic legacy of sex differences in this form of cooperation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cooperation among women: evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer E. Smith
- Biology Department, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA
- Biology Department, Mills College, 5000 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94631, USA
| | - Adrian V. Jaeggi
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland
| | - Rose K. Holmes
- Biology Department, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Avenue, Eau Claire, WI 54702, USA
| | - Joan B. Silk
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Hruschka DJ, Munira S, Jesmin K. Starting from scratch in a patrilocal society: how women build networks after marriage in rural Bangladesh. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210432. [PMID: 36440569 PMCID: PMC9703222 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans rely on both kin and non-kin social ties for a wide range of support. In patrilocal societies that practice village exogamy, women can face the challenge of building new supportive networks when they move to their husband's village and leave many genetic kin behind. In this paper, we track how women from 10 diverse communities in rural Bangladesh build supportive networks after migrating to their husband's village, comparing their trajectories with women who remained in their childhood village (Bengali: n = 317, Santal: n = 36, Hajong: n = 39, Mandi: n = 36). Women who migrated for marriage started with almost no adult close kin (mean 0.1) compared to women who remained in their childhood village (mean 2.4). However, immigrants compensated for the lack of genetic kin by a combination of close affinal kin and close friends. By their late 20s, immigrants reported substantially more non-kin friends than did non-immigrants (mean 1.4 versus 1.1) and a comparable number of supportive partners in several domains. These findings raise questions about the functions and quality of these different social ties and how different composition of supportive networks may provide different opportunities for women in these settings. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cooperation among women: evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J. Hruschka
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
| | - Shirajum Munira
- LAMB Project for Integrated Health and Development, Rajabashor, Parbatipur, Dinajpur 5250, Bangladesh
| | - Khaleda Jesmin
- LAMB Project for Integrated Health and Development, Rajabashor, Parbatipur, Dinajpur 5250, Bangladesh
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Plana F, Pérez J, Abeliuk A. Modularity of food-sharing networks minimises the risk for individual and group starvation in hunter-gatherer societies. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0272733. [PMID: 37163503 PMCID: PMC10171659 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 05/12/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been argued that hunter-gatherers' food-sharing may have provided the basis for a whole range of social interactions, and hence its study may provide important insight into the evolutionary origin of human sociality. Motivated by this observation, we propose a simple network optimization model inspired by a food-sharing dynamic that can recover some empirical patterns found in social networks. We focus on two of the main food-sharing drivers discussed by the anthropological literature: the reduction of individual starvation risk and the care for the group welfare or egalitarian access to food shares, and show that networks optimizing both criteria may exhibit a community structure of highly-cohesive groups around special agents that we call hunters, those who inject food into the system. These communities appear under conditions of uncertainty and scarcity in the food supply, which suggests their adaptive value in this context. We have additionally obtained that optimal welfare networks resemble social networks found in lab experiments that promote more egalitarian income distribution, and also distinct distributions of reciprocity among hunters and non-hunters, which may be consistent with some empirical reports on how sharing is distributed in waves, first among hunters, and then hunters with their families. These model results are consistent with the view that social networks functionally adaptive for optimal resource use, may have created the environment in which prosocial behaviors evolved. Finally, our model also relies on an original formulation of starvation risk, and it may contribute to a formal framework to proceed in this discussion regarding the principles guiding food-sharing networks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Plana
- Department of Computer Science, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Jorge Pérez
- Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data, Santiago, Chile
| | - Andrés Abeliuk
- Department of Computer Science, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), Santiago, Chile
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Social Support and Network Formation in a Small-Scale Horticulturalist Population. Sci Data 2022; 9:570. [PMID: 36109560 PMCID: PMC9477840 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01516-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary studies of cooperation in traditional human societies suggest that helping family and responding in kind when helped are the primary mechanisms for informally distributing resources vital to day-to-day survival (e.g., food, knowledge, money, childcare). However, these studies generally rely on forms of regression analysis that disregard complex interdependences between aid, resulting in the implicit assumption that kinship and reciprocity drive the emergence of entire networks of supportive social bonds. Here I evaluate this assumption using individual-oriented simulations of network formation (i.e., Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models). Specifically, I test standard predictions of cooperation derived from the evolutionary theories of kin selection and reciprocal altruism alongside well-established sociological predictions around the self-organisation of asymmetric relationships. Simulations are calibrated to exceptional public data on genetic relatedness and the provision of tangible aid amongst all 108 adult residents of a village of indigenous horticulturalists in Nicaragua (11,556 ordered dyads). Results indicate that relatedness and reciprocity are markedly less important to whom one helps compared to the supra-dyadic arrangement of the tangible aid network itself.
Collapse
|
11
|
Misrepresentation of group contributions undermines conditional cooperation in a human decision making experiment. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12320. [PMID: 35853937 PMCID: PMC9296641 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16613-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Cooperative behaviour can evolve through conditional strategies that direct cooperation towards interaction partners who have themselves been cooperative in the past. Such strategies are common in human cooperation, but they can be vulnerable to manipulation: individuals may try to exaggerate their past cooperation to elicit reciprocal contributions or improve their reputation for future gains. Little is known about the prevalence and the ramifications of misrepresentation in human cooperation, neither in general nor about its cultural facets (self-sacrifice for the group is valued differently across cultures). Here, we present a large-scale interactive decision making experiment (N = 870), performed in China and the USA, in which individuals had repeated cooperative interactions in groups. Our results show that (1) most individuals from both cultures overstate their contributions to the group if given the opportunity, (2) misrepresentation of cooperation is detrimental to cooperation in future interactions, and (3) the possibility to build up a personal reputation amplifies the effects of misrepresentation on cooperation in China, but not in the USA. Our results suggest that misrepresentation of cooperation is likely to be an important factor in (the evolution of) human social behaviour, with, depending on culture, diverging impacts on cooperation outcomes.
Collapse
|
12
|
Neuman N, Jörnvi A, Ek A, Nordin K, Eli K, Nowicka P. Children's experiences of meals after obesity treatment: a qualitative follow-up four years after a randomized controlled trial. BMC Pediatr 2022; 22:342. [PMID: 35701760 PMCID: PMC9199225 DOI: 10.1186/s12887-022-03387-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The practice of eating together, commensality, is rarely explored in the context of childhood obesity treatment. This is noteworthy given long-standing debates about the physical, psychosocial, and societal benefits of meals, especially family meals. Moreover, as children with obesity experience weight bias and stigma both within and outside the home, it is important to examine meals as a locus of social exchange around food and the body. Our study is based on the premises that eating together (i) matters and (ii) occurs in different environments with diverse social organization, where food-related interactions create varying arrangements of individuals, groups, their statuses, and their actions. Method The study explores children’s experiences of meals in different social contexts. Thirty-two children (age 8–10 years) living in Sweden were interviewed, 4 years after they entered an obesity intervention trial. Thematic analysis was applied to the data. Results We thematized three meal types, with each meal type having two subthemes: (i) “The family meal”, with “Shared routines, rituals, and rules” and “Individual solutions and choices”; (ii) “The school meal”, with “Rules and norms of the school” and “Strategies of the child”; and (iii) “The friend meal”, with “Handling food that was disliked” and “Enjoyment of food”. These three different meal types carried different experiences of and knowledge about how they were socially organized. Conclusions While the children spoke about the family and school meals as meaningful, the friend meal stood out as particularly positive. Contrary to our expectations, the children did not express experiences of weight bias or obesity stigma around meals, nor did they speak negatively about parental control of their food intake. Our findings, especially regarding the friend meal, have implications for further research into commensality and social influences on eating among children with obesity, from early childhood into adolescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicklas Neuman
- Department of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Box 560, Husargatan 3, 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden.
| | - Anna Jörnvi
- Department of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Box 560, Husargatan 3, 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Ek
- Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Division of Pediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, 141 57, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Karin Nordin
- Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Division of Pediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, 141 57, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Karin Eli
- Department of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Box 560, Husargatan 3, 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden.,School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Paulina Nowicka
- Department of Food Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, Uppsala University, Box 560, Husargatan 3, 751 22, Uppsala, Sweden.,Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Division of Pediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, 141 57, Huddinge, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Lobo J, Whitelaw T, Bettencourt LMA, Wiessner P, Smith ME, Ortman S. Scaling of Hunter-Gatherer Camp Size and Human Sociality. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1086/719234] [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]
|
14
|
Bryden J, Silverman E, Powers ST. Modelling transitions between egalitarian, dynamic leader and absolutist power structures. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0263665. [PMID: 35157720 PMCID: PMC8843174 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human groups show a variety of leadership dynamics ranging from egalitarian groups with no leader, to groups with changing leaders, to absolutist groups with a single long-term leader. Here, we model transitions between these different phases of leadership dynamics, investigating the role of inequalities in relationships between individuals. Our results demonstrate a novel riches-to-rags class of leadership dynamics where a leader can be replaced by a new individual. We note that the transition between the three different phases of leadership dynamics resembles transitions in leadership dynamics during the Neolithic period of human history. We argue how technological developments, such as food storage and/or weapons which allow one individual to control large quantities of resources, would mean that relationships became more unequal. In general terms, we provide a model of how individual relationships can affect leadership dynamics and structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John Bryden
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
- Observatory on Socia Media, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Eric Silverman
- MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Simon T. Powers
- School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Paulsson NI, Taborsky M. Reaching Out for Inaccessible Food Is a Potential Begging Signal in Cooperating Wild-Type Norway Rats, Rattus norvegicus. Front Psychol 2021; 12:712333. [PMID: 34526936 PMCID: PMC8435742 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Begging is widespread in juvenile animals. It typically induces helpful behaviours in parents and brood care helpers. However, begging is sometimes also shown by adults towards unrelated social partners. Adult Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) display a sequence of different behaviours in a reciprocal food provisioning task that have been interpreted as such signals of need. The first behaviour in this sequence represents reaching out for a food item the animal cannot obtain independently. This may reflect either an attempt to grasp the food object by itself, or a signal to the social partner communicating the need for help. To distinguish between these two possibilities, we tested in female wild-type Norway rats if the amount of reaching performed by a food-deprived rat changes with the presence/absence of food and a social partner. Focal rats displayed significantly more reaching behaviour, both in terms of number and total duration of events, when food and a potentially helpful partner were present compared to when either was missing. Our findings hence support the hypothesis that rats use reaching behaviour to signal need to social partners that can help them to obtain food.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Niklas I Paulsson
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Michael Taborsky
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Tatone D, Hernik M, Csibra G. Facilitation of object encoding in infants by the observation of giving. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18305. [PMID: 34526626 PMCID: PMC8443758 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97910-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We propose that humans are prepared to interpret giving as a diagnostic cue of reciprocal–exchange relations from infancy. A prediction following from this hypothesis is that infants will represent the identity of an object they see being given, because this information is critical for evaluating potential future reciprocation. Across three looking-time experiments we tested whether the observation of a transfer action induces 12-month-olds to encode the identity of a single object handled by an agent. We found that infants encoded the object identity when the agent gave the object (Experiment 1), but not when she took it (Experiment 2), despite being able to represent the goal of both actions (Experiments 1 and 3). Consistent with our hypothesis, these results suggest that the infants’ representation of giving comprises information necessary for comparing the value of transferred goods across sharing episodes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Denis Tatone
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, 1051, Hungary.
| | - Mikołaj Hernik
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, 1051, Hungary.,Department of Psychology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Gergely Csibra
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, 1051, Hungary.,Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Affiliation(s)
- Gerald G. Carter
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology The Ohio State University Columbus OH USA
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
What Is Commensality? A Critical Discussion of an Expanding Research Field. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18126235. [PMID: 34207626 PMCID: PMC8295993 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18126235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Commensality (the act of eating together) is studied in a range of disciplines and often considered important for social communion, order, health and well-being, while simultaneously being understood as in decline (especially the family meal). However, such claims are also contested in various ways. In this paper, we discuss the expanding field of commensality research and critically reflect on the debates surrounding its social functions, including its role in public health. We illuminate the deep social and cultural significance of commensality, through time and space, and conclude that whether or not commensality is the preferred social form of eating for any given individual, it is difficult to escape its sociocultural desirability and idealization. As a cross-cultural phenomenon in both past, present, and future, we suggest that commensality deserves further research. This includes commensality as a research topic in itself and as an entry point to unveil different dimensions of social relations between people, as well as interactions between humans and material objects.
Collapse
|
19
|
Gokcekus S, Cole EF, Sheldon BC, Firth JA. Exploring the causes and consequences of cooperative behaviour in wild animal populations using a social network approach. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2355-2372. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Samin Gokcekus
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute University of Oxford 11a Mansfield Road Oxford OX1 3SZ U.K
| | - Ella F. Cole
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute University of Oxford 11a Mansfield Road Oxford OX1 3SZ U.K
| | - Ben C. Sheldon
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute University of Oxford 11a Mansfield Road Oxford OX1 3SZ U.K
| | - Josh A. Firth
- Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute University of Oxford 11a Mansfield Road Oxford OX1 3SZ U.K
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Kudejira D. The role of “food” in network formation and the social integration of undocumented Zimbabwean migrant farmworkers in the Blouberg-Molemole area of Limpopo, South Africa. ANTHROPOLOGY SOUTHERN AFRICA 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2021.1892498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Denboy Kudejira
- Department of Anthropology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Communal roosting shows dynamics predicted by direct and indirect nepotism in chestnut-crowned babblers. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02958-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
22
|
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.
Collapse
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;
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Azure-winged magpies' decisions to share food are contingent on the presence or absence of food for the recipient. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16147. [PMID: 32999416 PMCID: PMC7528063 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73256-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Helping others is a key feature of human behavior. However, recent studies render this feature not uniquely human, and describe discoveries of prosocial behavior in non-human primates, other social mammals, and most recently in some bird species. Nevertheless, the cognitive underpinnings of this prosociality; i.e., whether animals take others’ need for help into account, often remain obscured. In this study, we take a first step in investigating prosociality in azure-winged magpies by presenting them with the opportunity to share highly desired food with their conspecifics i) in a situation in which these conspecifics had no such food, ii) in a situation in which they too had access to that highly desired food, and iii) in an open, base-line, situation where all had equal access to the same food and could move around freely. We find that azure-winged magpies regularly share high-value food items, preferably with, but not restricted to, members of the opposite sex. Most notably, we find that these birds, and specifically the females, seem to differentiate between whether others have food or do not have food, and subsequently cater to that lack. Begging calls by those without food seem to function as cues that elicit the food-sharing, but the response to that begging is condition-dependent. Moreover, analyses on a restricted dataset that excluded those events in which there was begging showed exactly the same patterns, raising the possibility that the azure-winged magpies might truly notice when others have access to fewer resources (even in the absence of vocal cues). This sharing behavior could indicate a high level of social awareness and prosociality that should be further investigated. Further studies are needed to establish the order of intentionality at play in this system, and whether azure-winged magpies might be able to attribute desire states to their conspecifics.
Collapse
|
24
|
Skoggard I, Ember CR, Pitek E, Jackson JC, Carolus C. Resource Stress Predicts Changes in Religious Belief and Increases in Sharing Behavior. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2020; 31:249-271. [PMID: 32803730 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-020-09371-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
We examine and test alternative models for explaining the relationships between resource stress, beliefs that gods and spirits influence weather (to help or harm food supply or punish for norm violations), and customary beyond-household sharing behavior. Our model, the resource stress model, suggests that resource stress affects both sharing as well as conceptions of gods' involvement with weather, but these supernatural beliefs play no role in explaining sharing. An alternative model, the moralizing high god model, suggests that the relationship between resource stress and sharing is at least partially mediated by religious beliefs in moralizing high gods. We compared the models using a worldwide sample of 96 cultures from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS), newly coded data on supernatural involvement with weather, and previously coded data on food and labor sharing. We conducted three types of analysis: multilevel and society-level regressions, and mediational path modeling using Monte Carlo simulations. Resource stress shows a robust effect on beliefs that high gods are associated with weather (and the more specific beliefs that high gods help or hurt the food supply with weather), that superior gods help the food supply through weather, and that minor spirits hurt the food supply through weather. Resource stress also predicts greater belief in moralizing high gods. However, no form of high god belief that we test significantly predicts more sharing. Mediational models suggest the religious beliefs do not significantly explain why resource stress is associated with food and labor sharing. Our findings generally accord with the view that resource stress changes religious belief and has a direct effect on sharing behavior, unmediated by high god beliefs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ian Skoggard
- Human Relations Area Files at Yale University, 755 Prospect St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
| | - Carol R Ember
- Human Relations Area Files at Yale University, 755 Prospect St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Emily Pitek
- Human Relations Area Files at Yale University, 755 Prospect St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Joshua Conrad Jackson
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
25
|
Schneeberger K, Röder G, Taborsky M. The smell of hunger: Norway rats provision social partners based on odour cues of need. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000628. [PMID: 32208414 PMCID: PMC7092957 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
When individuals exchange helpful acts reciprocally, increasing the benefit of the receiver can enhance its propensity to return a favour, as pay-offs are typically correlated in iterated interactions. Therefore, reciprocally cooperating animals should consider the relative benefit for the receiver when deciding to help a conspecific. Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) exchange food reciprocally and thereby take into account both the cost of helping and the potential benefit to the receiver. By using a variant of the sequential iterated prisoner’s dilemma paradigm, we show that rats may determine the need of another individual by olfactory cues alone. In an experimental food-exchange task, test subjects were provided with odour cues from hungry or satiated conspecifics located in a different room. Our results show that wild-type Norway rats provide help to a stooge quicker when they receive odour cues from a hungry rather than from a satiated conspecific. Using chemical analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we identify seven volatile organic compounds that differ in their abundance between hungry and satiated rats. Combined, this “smell of hunger” can apparently serve as a reliable cue of need in reciprocal cooperation, which supports the hypothesis of honest signalling. Rats provide more food to hungry fellow rats than to satiated ones. This study shows that a rat can assess the need of their partner using odor cues alone, and identifies the volatile organic compounds responsible for this "smell of hunger," a potential example of honest signalling.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karin Schneeberger
- Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Behavioural Ecology Division, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Animal Ecology Group, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Gregory Röder
- Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Research in Chemical Ecology (FARCE), Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Michael Taborsky
- Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Behavioural Ecology Division, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Butovskaya M, Marczak M, Misiak M, Karelin D, Białek M, Sorokowski P. Approach to Resource Management and Physical Strength Predict Differences in Helping: Evidence From Two Small-Scale Societies. Front Psychol 2020; 11:373. [PMID: 32269535 PMCID: PMC7110700 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Helping behavior is likely to have evolved to increase chances of survival of an individual and their group. Nevertheless, populations differ significantly in their eagerness to help, and little is known about populational and inter-individual determinants of these differences. Previous studies indicated that economic and physiological factors might influence helping behavior. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of approach to resource management of a society (immediate-return economy vs. delayed-return economy), prenatal androgenization (based on second-to-fourth digit ratio), and physical strength (based on hand grip strength) on helping behavior toward others. Helping was assessed in terms of both general eagerness to help and differential helping toward: (1) kin, (2) other group members indiscriminately, (3) friends, and (4) those from whom help was obtained in the past. Based on data collected in two small-scale societies (n = 306), we found that people in the egalitarian immediate-return society (the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania) displayed helping behavior significantly more often than people in a more stratified delayed-return economy (Yali horticulturalists of Papua). Additionally, our results revealed that physical strength was a significant predictor of helping behavior in women but not in men. We discuss our findings in the light of the adaptive value of helping behavior.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marina Butovskaya
- Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS, Moscow, Russia.,National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Michalina Marczak
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.,Institute of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Michał Misiak
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | - Michał Białek
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | | |
Collapse
|
27
|
Lobmaier JS, Probst F, Fischbacher U, Wirthmüller U, Knoch D. Pleasant body odours, but not genetic similarity, influence trustworthiness in a modified trust game. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3388. [PMID: 32099082 PMCID: PMC7042344 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60407-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying trustworthy partners is an important adaptive challenge for establishing mutually cooperative relationships. Previous studies have demonstrated a marked relationship between a person's attractiveness and his apparent trustworthiness (beauty premium). Kin selection theory, however, suggests that cues to kinship enhance trustworthiness. Here we directly tested predictions of the beauty premium and kin selection theory by using body odours as cues to trustworthiness. Body odours reportedly portray information about an individuals' genotype at the human leucocyte antigen system (HLA) and thus olfactory cues in body odours serve as a promising means for kin recognition. Ninety men played trust games in which they divided uneven sums of monetary units between two male trustees represented by their body odour and rated each body odour for pleasantness. Half of the odours came from HLA-similar men (suggesting closer kin) and half from HLA dissimilar men (suggesting non-kin). We found that the amount of money the players transferred was not related to HLA-similarity, but to the pleasantness of the trustee's body odour. By showing that people with more pleasant body odours are trusted more than people with unpleasant body odour we provide evidence for a "beauty-premium" that overrides any putative effect of kin.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Janek S Lobmaier
- Department of Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Fabian Probst
- Department of Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Urs Fischbacher
- Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Thurgau Institute of Economics, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
| | - Urs Wirthmüller
- Universitätsinstitut für Klinische Chemie, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daria Knoch
- Department of Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Barragan RC, Brooks R, Meltzoff AN. Altruistic food sharing behavior by human infants after a hunger manipulation. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1785. [PMID: 32019998 PMCID: PMC7000707 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58645-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Altruistic behavior entails giving valuable benefits to others while incurring a personal cost. A distinctively human form of altruistic behavior involves handing nutritious food to needy strangers, even when one desires the food. Engaging in altruistic food transfer, instead of keeping the food, is costly, because it reduces the caloric intake of the benefactor vis-à-vis the beneficiary. Human adults engage in this form of altruistic behavior during times of war and famine, when giving food to others threatens one's own survival. Our closest living primate relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), exhibit notable constraints on the proclivity to engage in such food transfer (particularly chimpanzees), although they share many social-cognitive commonalities with humans. Here we show that in a nonverbal test, 19-month-old human infants repeatedly and spontaneously transferred high-value, nutritious natural food to a stranger (Experiment 1) and more critically, did so after an experimental manipulation that imposed a feeding delay (Experiment 2), which increased their own motivation to eat the food. Social experience variables moderated the expression of this infant altruistic behavior, suggesting malleability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rodolfo Cortes Barragan
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
| | - Rechele Brooks
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Schweinfurth MK, Call J. Reciprocity: Different behavioural strategies, cognitive mechanisms and psychological processes. Learn Behav 2019; 47:284-301. [PMID: 31676946 PMCID: PMC6877494 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-019-00394-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Reciprocity is probably one of the most debated theories in evolutionary research. After more than 40 years of research, some scientists conclude that reciprocity is an almost uniquely human trait mainly because it is cognitively demanding. Others, however, conclude that reciprocity is widespread and of great importance to many species. Yet, it is unclear how these species reciprocate, given its apparent cognitive complexity. Therefore, our aim was to unravel the psychological processes underlying reciprocity. By bringing together findings from studies investigating different aspects of reciprocity, we show that reciprocity is a rich concept with different behavioural strategies and cognitive mechanisms that require very different psychological processes. We reviewed evidence from three textbook examples, i.e. the Norway rat, common vampire bat and brown capuchin monkey, and show that the species use different strategies and mechanisms to reciprocate. We continue by examining the psychological processes of reciprocity. We show that the cognitive load varies between different forms of reciprocity. Several factors can lower the memory demands of reciprocity such as distinctiveness of encounters, memory of details and network size. Furthermore, there are different information operation systems in place, which also vary in their cognitive load due to assessing the number of encounters and the quality and quantity of help. We conclude that many species possess the psychological processes to show some form of reciprocity. Hence, reciprocity might be a widespread phenomenon that varies in terms of strategies and mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Manon K Schweinfurth
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's Quad, KY16 9JP, St Andrews, Scotland.
| | - Josep Call
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's Quad, KY16 9JP, St Andrews, Scotland
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Clech L, Hazel A, Gibson MA. Does Kin-Selection Theory Help to Explain Support Networks among Farmers in South-Central Ethiopia? HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2019; 30:422-447. [PMID: 31729694 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-019-09352-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Social support networks play a key role in human livelihood security, especially in vulnerable communities. Here we explore how evolutionary ideas of kin selection and intrahousehold resource competition can explain individual variation in daily support network size and composition in a south-central Ethiopian agricultural community. We consider both domestic and agricultural help across two generations with different wealth-transfer norms that yield different contexts for sibling competition. For farmers who inherited land rights from family, firstborns were more likely to report daily support from parents and to have larger nonparental kin networks (n = 180). Compared with other farmers, firstborns were also more likely to reciprocate their parents' support, and to help nonparental kin without reciprocity. For farmers who received land rights from the government (n = 151), middle-born farmers reported more nonparental kin in their support networks compared with other farmers; nonreciprocal interactions were particularly common in both directions. This suggests a diversification of adult support networks to nonparental kin, possibly in response to a long-term parental investment disadvantage of being middle-born sons. In all instances, regardless of inheritance, lastborn farmers were the most disadvantaged in terms of kin support. Overall, we found that nonreciprocal interactions among farmers followed kin selection predictions. Direct reciprocity explained a substantial part of the support received from kin, suggesting the importance of the combined effects of kin selection and reciprocity for investment from kin.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Clech
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Rd, Bristol, BS81TH, UK. .,Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, 50, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Ashley Hazel
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Mhairi A Gibson
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Rd, Bristol, BS81TH, UK
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Page AE, Thomas MG, Smith D, Dyble M, Viguier S, Chaudhary N, Salali GD, Thompson J, Mace R, Migliano AB. Testing adaptive hypotheses of alloparenting in Agta foragers. Nat Hum Behav 2019; 3:1154-1163. [PMID: 31406338 PMCID: PMC6858278 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0679-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Human children are frequently cared for by non-parental caregivers (alloparents), yet few studies have conducted systematic alternative hypothesis tests of why alloparents help. Here we explore whether predictions from kin selection, reciprocity, learning-to-mother and costly signalling hypotheses explain non-parental childcare among Agta hunter-gatherers from the Philippines. To test these hypotheses, we used high-resolution proximity data from 1,701 child-alloparent dyads. Our results indicated that reciprocity and relatedness were positively associated with the number of interactions with a child (our proxy for childcare). Need appeared more influential in close kin, suggesting indirect benefits, while reciprocity proved to be a stronger influence in non-kin, pointing to direct benefits. However, despite shared genes, close and distant kin interactions were also contingent on reciprocity. Compared with other apes, humans are unique in rapidly producing energetically demanding offspring. Our results suggest that the support that mothers require is met through support based on kinship and reciprocity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Abigail E Page
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Matthew G Thomas
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Daniel Smith
- Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Mark Dyble
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sylvain Viguier
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Nikhil Chaudhary
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Gul Deniz Salali
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - James Thompson
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ruth Mace
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Andrea B Migliano
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Schweinfurth MK, Call J. Revisiting the possibility of reciprocal help in non-human primates. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 104:73-86. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.06.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2019] [Revised: 06/12/2019] [Accepted: 06/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
|
33
|
Ringen EJ, Duda P, Jaeggi AV. The evolution of daily food sharing: A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
34
|
Kraft TS, Venkataraman VV, Tacey I, Dominy NJ, Endicott KM. Foraging Performance, Prosociality, and Kin Presence Do Not Predict Lifetime Reproductive Success in Batek Hunter-Gatherers. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2019; 30:71-97. [PMID: 30552578 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-018-9334-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Identifying the determinants of reproductive success in small-scale societies is critical for understanding how natural selection has shaped human evolution and behavior. The available evidence suggests that status-accruing behaviors such as hunting and prosociality are pathways to reproductive success, but social egalitarianism may diminish this pathway. Here we introduce a mixed longitudinal/cross-sectional dataset based on 45 years of research with the Batek, a population of egalitarian rain forest hunter-gatherers in Peninsular Malaysia, and use it to test the effects of four predictors of lifetime reproductive success: (i) foraging return rate, (ii) sharing proclivity, (iii) cooperative foraging tendency, and (iv) kin presence. We found that none of these factors can explain variation in lifetime reproduction among males or females. We suggest that social egalitarianism, combined with strikingly low infant and juvenile mortality rates, can mediate the pathway between foraging, status-accruing behavior, and reproductive success. Our approach advocates for greater theoretical and empirical attention to quantitative social network measures, female foraging, and fitness outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas S Kraft
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA. .,Department of Anthropology, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Vivek V Venkataraman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Ivan Tacey
- Exeter Anthrozoology as Symbiotics Ethics Working Group, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | - Kirk M Endicott
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Carter GG, Schino G, Farine D. Challenges in assessing the roles of nepotism and reciprocity in cooperation networks. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
|
36
|
Schweinfurth MK, Taborsky M. Relatedness decreases and reciprocity increases cooperation in Norway rats. Proc Biol Sci 2019. [PMID: 29514963 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Kin selection and reciprocity are two mechanisms underlying the evolution of cooperation, but the relative importance of kinship and reciprocity for decisions to cooperate are yet unclear for most cases of cooperation. Here, we experimentally tested the relative importance of relatedness and received cooperation for decisions to help a conspecific in wild-type Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). Test rats provided more food to non-kin than to siblings, and they generally donated more food to previously helpful social partners than to those that had refused help. The rats thus applied reciprocal cooperation rules irrespective of relatedness, highlighting the importance of reciprocal help for cooperative interactions among both related and unrelated conspecifics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Manon K Schweinfurth
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, 3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland .,School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, Westburn Lane, KY16 9JP St Andrews, UK
| | - Michael Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, 3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Fruth B, Hohmann G. Food Sharing across Borders : First Observation of Intercommunity Meat Sharing by Bonobos at LuiKotale, DRC. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2018; 29:91-103. [PMID: 29619667 PMCID: PMC5942352 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-018-9311-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Evolutionary models consider hunting and food sharing to be milestones that paved the way from primate to human societies. Because fossil evidence is scarce, hominoid primates serve as referential models to assess our common ancestors' capacity in terms of communal use of resources, food sharing, and other forms of cooperation. Whereas chimpanzees form male-male bonds exhibiting resource-defense polygyny with intolerance and aggression toward nonresidents, bonobos form male-female and female-female bonds resulting in relaxed relations with neighboring groups. Here we report the first known case of meat sharing between members of two bonobo communities, revealing a new dimension of social tolerance in this species. This observation testifies to the behavioral plasticity that exists in the two Pan species and contributes to scenarios concerning the traits of the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo. It also contributes to the discussion of physiological triggers of in-group/out-group behavior and allows reconsideration of the emergence of social norms in prehuman societies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Fruth
- Faculty of Science, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK. .,Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Koningin Astridplein 20-26, B-2018, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Gottfried Hohmann
- Department of Primatology, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Ember CR, Skoggard I, Ringen EJ, Farrer M. Our better nature: Does resource stress predict beyond-household sharing? EVOL HUM BEHAV 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
|
39
|
Mielke A, Preis A, Samuni L, Gogarten JF, Wittig RM, Crockford C. Flexible decision-making in grooming partner choice in sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:172143. [PMID: 30109053 PMCID: PMC6083658 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.172143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/07/2018] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Living in permanent social groups forces animals to make decisions about when, how and with whom to interact, requiring decisions to be made that integrate multiple sources of information. Changing social environments can influence this decision-making process by constraining choice or altering the likelihood of a positive outcome. Here, we conceptualized grooming as a choice situation where an individual chooses one of a number of potential partners. Studying two wild populations of sympatric primate species, sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys atys) and western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus), we tested what properties of potential partners influenced grooming decisions, including their relative value based on available alternatives and the social relationships of potential partners with bystanders who could observe the outcome of the decision. Across 1529 decision events, multiple partner attributes (e.g. dominance ranks, social relationship quality, reproductive state, partner sex) influenced choice. Individuals preferred to initiate grooming with partners of similar global rank, but this effect was driven by a bias towards partners with a high rank compared to other locally available options. Individuals also avoided grooming partners who had strong social relationships with at least one bystander. Results indicated flexible decision-making in grooming interactions in both species, based on a partner's value given the local social environment. Viewing partner choice as a value-based decision-making process allows researchers to compare how different species solve similar social problems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Mielke
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Taï Chimpanzee Project, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Anna Preis
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Taï Chimpanzee Project, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Liran Samuni
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Taï Chimpanzee Project, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Jan F. Gogarten
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Taï Chimpanzee Project, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- P3: ‘Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms’, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Roman M. Wittig
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Taï Chimpanzee Project, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Catherine Crockford
- Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques en Côte d'Ivoire, Taï Chimpanzee Project, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Burkart JM, van Schaik C, Griesser M. Looking for unity in diversity: human cooperative childcare in comparative perspective. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1184. [PMID: 29237848 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans engage in cooperative childcare, which includes some elements not found in other animals, such as the presence of post-reproductive helpers, extensive food sharing among adults and a pervasive sexual division of labour. In animals, cooperative offspring care has typically been studied in two different contexts. The first mainly involves helpers contributing care in cooperatively breeding family groups; the second context is allomaternal care in species usually not categorized as cooperative breeders (e.g. plural and communal breeders, often without male care). Comparative analyses suggest that cooperative breeding and allomaternal care in plural and communal breeders have distinct evolutionary origins, with humans fitting neither pathway entirely. Nevertheless, some critical proximate mechanisms of helping, including hormonal regulators, are likely to be shared across species. Other mechanisms may vary among species, such as social tolerance, proactive prosociality or conditional mother-infant bonding. These are presumably associated with specific details of the care system, such as whether all group members contribute, or whether mothers can potentially raise offspring alone. Thus, cooperative offspring care is seen in different contexts across animal lineages, but may nonetheless share several important psychological characteristics. We end by discussing how work on humans may play a unifying role in studying cooperative offspring care.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Judith M Burkart
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Carel van Schaik
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Michael Griesser
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Institute of Environmental Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, Krakow 30-387, Poland
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Premo J, Cavagnetto A, Davis WB. Promoting Collaborative Classrooms: The Impacts of Interdependent Cooperative Learning on Undergraduate Interactions and Achievement. CBE LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION 2018; 17:ar32. [PMID: 29799312 PMCID: PMC5998320 DOI: 10.1187/cbe.17-08-0176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2017] [Revised: 02/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Collaboration is an important career skill and vital to student understanding of the social aspects of science, but less is known about relationships among collaborative-learning strategies, classroom climate, and student learning. We sought to increase the collaborative character of introductory undergraduate laboratory classrooms by analyzing a 9-week intervention in 10 classrooms ( n = 251) that participated in cooperative-learning modules (promoting interdependence via a modified jigsaw technique). Students in an additional 10 classrooms ( n = 232) completed the same material in an unstructured format representative of common educational practice. Results showed that, when between-class variance was controlled for, intervention students did not score higher on weekly quizzes, but science interest and prior science experience had a reduced relationship to quiz performance in intervention classrooms. Also, intervention classrooms showed increased collaborative engagement at both whole-class and individual levels (24 students at three time points), but the intervention was only one of several factors found to account for late-intervention classroom collaborative engagement (prosocial behavior and discussion practices). Taken together, findings suggest that integrating interdependence-based tasks may foster collaborative engagement at both small-group and whole-classroom levels, but by itself may not be enough to promote increased student achievement.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Premo
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-1227
| | - Andy Cavagnetto
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-1227
- Department of Teaching and Learning, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-1227
| | - William B. Davis
- School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-1227
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Lukas D, Clutton-Brock T. Social complexity and kinship in animal societies. Ecol Lett 2018; 21:1129-1134. [PMID: 29797749 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Revised: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Studies of eusocial invertebrates regard complex societies as those where there is a clear division of labour and extensive cooperation between breeders and helpers. In contrast, studies of social mammals identify complex societies as those where differentiated social relationships influence access to resources and reproductive opportunities. We show here that, while traits associated with social complexity of the first kind occur in social mammals that live in groups composed of close relatives, traits associated with the complexity of social relationships occur where average kinship between female group members is low. These differences in the form of social complexity appear to be associated with variation in brain size and probably reflect contrasts in the extent of conflicts of interest between group members. Our results emphasise the limitations of any unitary concept of social complexity and show that variation in average kinship between group members has far-reaching consequences for animal societies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dieter Lukas
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EJ, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tim Clutton-Brock
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, CB2 3EJ, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Sivan J, Curry OS, Van Lissa CJ. Excavating the Foundations: Cognitive Adaptations for Multiple Moral Domains. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-018-0154-8] [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]
|
44
|
Brügger RK, Kappeler-Schmalzriedt T, Burkart JM. Reverse audience effects on helping in cooperatively breeding marmoset monkeys. Biol Lett 2018; 14:20180030. [PMID: 29593076 PMCID: PMC5897615 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Cooperatively breeding common marmosets show substantial variation in the amount of help they provide. Pay-to-stay and social prestige models of helping attribute this variation to audience effects, i.e. that individuals help more if group members can witness their interactions with immatures, whereas models of kin selection, group augmentation or those stressing the need to gain parenting experience do not predict any audience effects. We quantified the readiness of adult marmosets to share food in the presence or absence of other group members. Contrary to both predictions, we found a reverse audience effect on food-sharing behaviour: marmosets would systematically share more food with immatures when no audience was present. Thus, helping in common marmosets, at least in related family groups, does not support the pay-to-stay or the social prestige model, and helpers do not take advantage of the opportunity to engage in reputation management. Rather, the results appear to reflect a genuine concern for the immatures' well-being, which seems particularly strong when solely responsible for the immatures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R K Brügger
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - T Kappeler-Schmalzriedt
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, Amsterdam, GE 1090, The Netherlands
| | - J M Burkart
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Bliege Bird R, Ready E, Power EA. The social significance of subtle signals. Nat Hum Behav 2018; 2:452-457. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0298-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Accepted: 01/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
46
|
Ready E, Power EA. Why Wage Earners Hunt: Food Sharing, Social Structure, and Influence in an Arctic Mixed Economy. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1086/696018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
47
|
Thomas MG, Bårdsen BJ, Næss MW. The narrow gap between norms and cooperative behaviour in a reindeer herding community. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:171221. [PMID: 29515842 PMCID: PMC5830731 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
Cooperation evolves on social networks and is shaped, in part, by norms: beliefs and expectations about the behaviour of others or of oneself. Networks of cooperative social partners and associated norms are vital for pastoralists, such as Saami reindeer herders in northern Norway. However, little is known quantitatively about how norms structure pastoralists' social networks or shape cooperation. Saami herders reported their social networks and participated in field experiments, allowing us to gauge the overlap between reported and emergent cooperation. We show that individuals' perceptions of reciprocal cooperation within their social networks exceeded actual reciprocity, although both occurred frequently and were concentrated within herding groups. Herders with more extensive cooperation networks received more rewards in an economic game. Although herders overestimated reciprocal helping, cooperation in this community was still extensive, suggesting that perceived norms potentially allow network structures promoting cooperation to emerge and be maintained.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Gwynfryn Thomas
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Arctic Ecology Department, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
- Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (NIKU), High North Department, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Arctic Ecology Department, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Marius Warg Næss
- Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (NIKU), High North Department, Fram Centre, 9296 Tromsø, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Thomas MG, Ji T, Wu J, He Q, Tao Y, Mace R. Kinship underlies costly cooperation in Mosuo villages. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:171535. [PMID: 29515868 PMCID: PMC5830757 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2017] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The relative importance of social evolution theories such as kin selection, direct reciprocity and need-based transfers in explaining real-world cooperation is the source of much debate. Previous field studies of cooperation in human communities have revealed variability in the extent to which each of these theories explains human sociality in different contexts. We conducted multivariate social network analyses predicting costly cooperation-labouring on another household's farm-in 128 082 dyads of Mosuo farming households in southwest China. Through information-theoretic model selection, we tested the roles played by genealogical relatedness, affinal relationships (including reproductive partners), reciprocity, relative need, wealth, household size, spatial proximity and gift-giving in an economic game. The best-fitting model included all factors, along with interactions between relatedness and (i) reciprocity, (ii) need, (iii) the presence of own children in another household and (iv) proximity. Our results show how a real-world form of cooperation was driven by kinship. Households tended to help kin in need (but not needy non-kin) and travel further to help spatially distant relatives. Households were more likely to establish reciprocal relationships with distant relatives and non-kin but closer kin cooperated regardless of reciprocity. These patterns of kin-driven cooperation show the importance of inclusive fitness in understanding human social behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Gwynfryn Thomas
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Ting Ji
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Centre for Computational and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Jiajia Wu
- Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - QiaoQiao He
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Centre for Computational and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Yi Tao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Centre for Computational and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Ruth Mace
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BW, UK
- Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, 222 Tianshui South Road, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730000, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Wutich A, Budds J, Eichelberger L, Geere J, Harris L, Horney J, Jepson W, Norman E, O'Reilly K, Pearson A, Shah S, Shinn J, Simpson K, Staddon C, Stoler J, Teodoro MP, Young S. Advancing methods for research on household water insecurity: Studying entitlements and capabilities, socio-cultural dynamics, and political processes, institutions and governance. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017. [PMID: 29532811 DOI: 10.1016/j.wasec.2017.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Household water insecurity has serious implications for the health, livelihoods and wellbeing of people around the world. Existing methods to assess the state of household water insecurity focus largely on water quality, quantity or adequacy, source or reliability, and affordability. These methods have significant advantages in terms of their simplicity and comparability, but are widely recognized to oversimplify and underestimate the global burden of household water insecurity. In contrast, a broader definition of household water insecurity should include entitlements and human capabilities, sociocultural dynamics, and political institutions and processes. This paper proposes a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods that can be widely adopted across cultural, geographic, and demographic contexts to assess hard-to-measure dimensions of household water insecurity. In doing so, it critically evaluates existing methods for assessing household water insecurity and suggests ways in which methodological innovations advance a broader definition of household water insecurity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amber Wutich
- School of Human Evolution & Social Change and Center for Global Health, Arizona State University
| | - Jessica Budds
- School of International Development, University of East Anglia
| | | | - Jo Geere
- School of Allied Health Professions, University of East Anglia
| | - Leila Harris
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia
| | - Jennifer Horney
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A&M University
| | | | - Emma Norman
- Native Environmental Science Program, Northwest Indian College
| | | | - Amber Pearson
- Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, Michigan State University
| | - Sameer Shah
- Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British Columbia
| | - Jamie Shinn
- Department of Geology & Geography, West Virginia University
| | - Karen Simpson
- Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of West England Bristol
| | - Chad Staddon
- Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of West England Bristol
| | - Justin Stoler
- Department of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Miami
| | | | - Sera Young
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
|