Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK
For cooperation to be beneficial, cooperators should be able to differentiate individuals who are willing to cooperate from free-riders. In the absence of kin or of familiar individuals, phenotypic similarity (e.g. in terms of language) can be used as a cue of how likely two or more individuals are...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Evolutionary Human Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X23000257/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797644446207049728 |
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| author | Bonaventura Majolo Laëtitia Maréchal Ferenc Igali Julie Van de Vyver |
| author_facet | Bonaventura Majolo Laëtitia Maréchal Ferenc Igali Julie Van de Vyver |
| author_sort | Bonaventura Majolo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | For cooperation to be beneficial, cooperators should be able to differentiate individuals who are willing to cooperate from free-riders. In the absence of kin or of familiar individuals, phenotypic similarity (e.g. in terms of language) can be used as a cue of how likely two or more individuals are to behave similarly (whether they will cooperate or free-ride). Thus, phenotypic similarity could affect cooperation. However, it is unclear whether humans respond to any type of phenotypic similarity or whether only salient phenotypic traits guide cooperation. We tested whether within-group, non-salient phenotypic similarity affects cooperation in 280, 3 to 10 year old children and in 76 young adults (mean 19.8 years old) in the UK. We experimentally manipulated the degree of phenotypic similarity in three computer-based experiments. We found no evidence of a preference for, or greater cooperation with, phenotypically similar individuals in children, even though children displayed ingroup preference. Conversely, young adults cooperated more with phenotypically similar than with phenotypically diverse individuals to themselves. Our results suggest that response to non-salient phenotypic similarity varies with age and that young adults may pay more attention to non-salient cues of diversity then children. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:30:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c0ef4ad922a04b6e8013b45e95d281b3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2513-843X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:30:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolutionary Human Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-c0ef4ad922a04b6e8013b45e95d281b32023-10-31T10:11:05ZengCambridge University PressEvolutionary Human Sciences2513-843X2023-01-01510.1017/ehs.2023.25Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UKBonaventura Majolo0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0235-3040Laëtitia Maréchal1Ferenc Igali2Julie Van de Vyver3School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, Lincoln LN5 7AT, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, Lincoln LN5 7AT, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, Lincoln LN5 7AT, UKSchool of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Sarah Swift Building, Brayford Wharf East, Lincoln LN5 7AT, UK Behavioural Insights and Research team, Magpie, Munro House, Duke St, Leeds, LS9 8AG, UK Department of Psychology, Durham University, Upper Mountjoy, South road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UKFor cooperation to be beneficial, cooperators should be able to differentiate individuals who are willing to cooperate from free-riders. In the absence of kin or of familiar individuals, phenotypic similarity (e.g. in terms of language) can be used as a cue of how likely two or more individuals are to behave similarly (whether they will cooperate or free-ride). Thus, phenotypic similarity could affect cooperation. However, it is unclear whether humans respond to any type of phenotypic similarity or whether only salient phenotypic traits guide cooperation. We tested whether within-group, non-salient phenotypic similarity affects cooperation in 280, 3 to 10 year old children and in 76 young adults (mean 19.8 years old) in the UK. We experimentally manipulated the degree of phenotypic similarity in three computer-based experiments. We found no evidence of a preference for, or greater cooperation with, phenotypically similar individuals in children, even though children displayed ingroup preference. Conversely, young adults cooperated more with phenotypically similar than with phenotypically diverse individuals to themselves. Our results suggest that response to non-salient phenotypic similarity varies with age and that young adults may pay more attention to non-salient cues of diversity then children.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X23000257/type/journal_articleculturedevelopmentnormsphenotypepublic goods gamesocial categorisation |
| spellingShingle | Bonaventura Majolo Laëtitia Maréchal Ferenc Igali Julie Van de Vyver Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK Evolutionary Human Sciences culture development norms phenotype public goods game social categorisation |
| title | Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK |
| title_full | Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK |
| title_fullStr | Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK |
| title_short | Cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the UK |
| title_sort | cooperation and group similarity in children and young adults in the uk |
| topic | culture development norms phenotype public goods game social categorisation |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X23000257/type/journal_article |
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