Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To?
Evolutionary explanations of the co-existence of large-scale cooperation and warfare in human societies rest on the hypothesis of parochial altruism, the view thatin-group pro-sociality and out-group anti-sociality have co-evolved. We designed an experiment that allows subjects to freely choose betw...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00729/full |
| _version_ | 1818082070077898752 |
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| author | Maria Paula eCacault Lorenz eGoette Rafael eLalive Mathias eThoenig |
| author_facet | Maria Paula eCacault Lorenz eGoette Rafael eLalive Mathias eThoenig |
| author_sort | Maria Paula eCacault |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evolutionary explanations of the co-existence of large-scale cooperation and warfare in human societies rest on the hypothesis of parochial altruism, the view thatin-group pro-sociality and out-group anti-sociality have co-evolved. We designed an experiment that allows subjects to freely choose between actions that are purely pro-social, purely anti-social, or a combination of the two. We present behavioral evidence on the existence of strong aggression -- a pattern of non-strategic behaviors that are welfare-reducing for all individuals (i.e. victims and perpetrators). We also show how strong aggression serves to dynamically stabilize in-group pro-sociality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:16:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fd2fd0dc0cf54166968be181cf39c48f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T19:16:15Z |
| publishDate | 2015-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-fd2fd0dc0cf54166968be181cf39c48f2022-12-22T01:36:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782015-06-01610.3389/fpsyg.2015.00729131747Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To?Maria Paula eCacault0Lorenz eGoette1Rafael eLalive2Mathias eThoenig3University of LausanneUniversity of LausanneUniversity of LausanneUniversity of LausanneEvolutionary explanations of the co-existence of large-scale cooperation and warfare in human societies rest on the hypothesis of parochial altruism, the view thatin-group pro-sociality and out-group anti-sociality have co-evolved. We designed an experiment that allows subjects to freely choose between actions that are purely pro-social, purely anti-social, or a combination of the two. We present behavioral evidence on the existence of strong aggression -- a pattern of non-strategic behaviors that are welfare-reducing for all individuals (i.e. victims and perpetrators). We also show how strong aggression serves to dynamically stabilize in-group pro-sociality.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00729/fullexperimental testsin-group favoritismpublic goodParochial altruismout-group aggressionstrong agression |
| spellingShingle | Maria Paula eCacault Lorenz eGoette Rafael eLalive Mathias eThoenig Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To? Frontiers in Psychology experimental tests in-group favoritism public good Parochial altruism out-group aggression strong agression |
| title | Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To? |
| title_full | Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To? |
| title_fullStr | Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To? |
| title_short | Do We Harm Others Even if We Don't Need To? |
| title_sort | do we harm others even if we don 39 t need to |
| topic | experimental tests in-group favoritism public good Parochial altruism out-group aggression strong agression |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00729/full |
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