Chapter 9
The evolution of human social behavior and formation of social and economic structures
The expression of social behavior across diverse settings, in experiments, and in game scenarios
Way in which humans primarily interact with one another to meet and optimize their well-being
Basic needs driving early social exchange• Protection and self-defense from predators• Resource sharing
Still alive in contemporary social exchange
Humans are equipped to cooperate• Cooperation is an effective strategy: benefits
from trading things of value
Theorized by John Stuart Mill• Decisions and behaviors are guided by
whether happiness is increased or decreased
Key factor in human exchange• People make rational calculations to
maximize their return of value
No matter the size of the social exchange structure, its elementary forms lie in the basics of social behavior• Places importance on both field and
experimental research• Overlooks the role of irrational behavior
Emotions play a role in the outcomes of social exchanges• Factors affect the exchange context,
exchange process, and exchange outcomes Internal emotions are not always fully
expressed outwardly• Displayed emotions are based on social
norms• Release of emotions controlled by cognition
Kollock (1994)• Test of commitment and trust in undergrad
students• Students were given role as either buyer or
seller, with some buyers knowing the quality of the good before purchase and some knowing the quality after purchase
• Conditions of uncertainty were associated with greater commitment and trust of a buyer to a seller
Molm, Takabashi, and Peterson (2000)• Test of negotiated versus reciprocal
exchanges Reciprocal: individual provides goods without
knowing what they will receive in return Negotiated: predetermined trade agreements
• Trust and behavioral commitment in the partner was greater in reciprocal exchange conditions
Strong Reciprocity• Why humans cooperate with others even
though there is no relatedness or obvious short-term gain
• Evolved sense of sociality• Evolved sense of fairness
Humans act on principles of fairness• Welfare programs: 70% of Americans did
not think welfare was fair to working people, whereas fewer Americans were concerned about the costs
• Free riders: Cooperators will punish or penalize free riders even if there is no direct material gain
Impact of oxytocin• Released during pair-bonding activities• Helps facilitate trust among humans during
social interaction Use of brain imaging
• Study 1: Mutual cooperation during an experimental game was correlated with areas of the brain that involve rewards
• Study 2: Participants who cooperated had greater activation in regions that theoretically serve to delay reward, thus facilitating cooperative decisions
Power differential among social exchanges• Control of limited resources creates leverage• Molm (1990) found that structural power has direct
effects on social exchange outcomes Strategies to deal with power differentials
• Obtain a resource the power holder does not have• Find alternative sources of the resource• Get along without the resource• Attempt to force the power holder to give you the
resource
Behavior benefitting another organism while being detrimental to the organism performing the behavior• e.g. jumping into a river to save a drowning stranger
Benefits the long-term self-interest of organisms• Altruistic outweighs nonaltruistic behavior in long run• Humans rely on one another and are mutually
interdependent• Immense opportunities to choose between altruistic
or free-riding actions
Real Altruism• Behavior where there is no premeditated
calculation of what might be received if altruistic behavior is initiated
Calculated Altruism• Premeditated calculation about receiving a
benefit for altruistic behavior
“Cheaters”• Exploiters of altruistic behavior by nonaltruists
without any consequence to the nonaltruists Gross Cheating
• Failure to give anything at all in return Subtle Cheating
• Always giving less than what was given
*Adapted from Trivers (1971).
Tendency to cooperate with strangers and punish cheaters, even at a personal cost
Impact of strong reciprocity• Predicate moral sentiments of contemporary
people valuing freedom and equality• Possession of trait allows one to contribute to
group survival in dire times, even if a minority• In dire times, groups whose members possess
the trait will outperform groups low on strong reciprocity.
Why do people donate to charities?• Positive feelings experienced when donating• Discomfort of saying no due to social
pressures Cognitive neuroscience of charitable
giving• Experiments showed that there is a neural
basis for charitable donations Areas of the brain that mediate social bonding and
aversion are activated in altruistic decision making
May serve as possible moderators of altruistic behavior• Giver in exchange may be influenced by
bigoted viewpoints• Study in post-apartheid South Africa
revealed insider bias based on participant surnames
Few attempts to provide a scale of altruism
1981 study assessed altruistic personality• Questioned: giving blood, giving directions
to strangers, volunteer work, etc.• Findings correlated with other scales of
moral judgment, empathy, and prosocial values
Perspective taking• The ability to get into other person’s shoes
and sense their viewpoints, needs, and distress
Types of empathy• Sympathetic concern
One feels the other’s state of need and tries to make things better (impulse driven)
• Cognitive empathy Appraisal of what caused the other person’s
emotional state and thoughts about amelioration (rationally driven)
Objective• Uncover reasons why people make
decisions, whether they are seemingly rational or irrational
Basic theory• Everyone’s lives involve interactions with
others, with strategies and decisions that can be modeled using games
• Outcomes are based on the combined behavior of multiple individuals
Purpose• To achieve best possible outcome for oneself in a
difficult situation Set-up
• Two bank robbers are questioned separately• If a robber pleads guilty and rats out his
accomplice, he will go free and his accomplice will get 30 years in prison.
• If a both robbers plead guilty and rat each other out, they will both receive 10 years in prison.
• If both keep quiet, they will both get 1 year Uses
• Interactions between nations involving decisions of war and peace, trade and economics, etc.
Fetal environment and infancy Childhood and adolescence Adulthood
Biosocial development starts at an early age
Individual variations in temperament• Indicates likely variation in altruistic and
cooperation behaviors at later ages• Impact of parenting on moderating behavioral
tendencies
Learning cooperation• Play with other children: involves sharing• Observational learning: watching family
members cooperate with each other Developing sense of fair play and
equality• Increased willingness to share between 3- to 4-
year-olds (9%) and 7- to 8-year-olds (45%)• Continues to solidify through adolescence
Greater importance on exchanges with peers during adolescence
Continued impact of prosocial behaviors• Dependence on cooperation with others and
developed functional skills for social exchange• Influenced by level of agreeableness
Measured by Five Factor Model of Personality model High Agreeableness: getting along with others,
caring about others, and acceptance Low Agreeableness: distrust, impatience, and
aggression
Social exchange and cooperation is rooted in the evolution of social behavior.
Cooperation among early humans was driven by the need for protection and resource sharing.
Emotions play a role in social exchanges. Humans have a developed sense of fairness and
are willing to penalize others without obvious self-gain.
Control of limited resources involves leveraging power, adding competition, cooperation, and conflict to social exchanges.
Altruistic behavior outweighs nonaltruistic behavior in the long run.
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