Biology Faculty Articles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2006
Publication Title
Evolutionary Psychology
Keywords
Altruism, Punishment, Helping, Cheating, Altruistic Punishment, Selfish Punishment
ISSN
1474-7049
Volume
4
First Page
274
Last Page
286
Abstract
Evolutionary altruism (defined in terms of fitness effects) exists in the context of punishment in addition to helping. We examine the proximate psychological mechanisms that motivate altruistic helping and punishment, including the effects of genetic relatedness, potential for future interactions, and individual differences in propensity to help and punish. A cheater who is a genetic relative provokes a stronger emotional reaction than a cheater who is a stranger, but the behavioral response is modulated to avoid making the transgression public in the case of cheating relatives. Numerous behavioral differences are not accompanied by emotional differences, suggesting that other psychological mechanisms dictate the specific response to emotion-provoking events. Paradoxically, there is a positive correlation between temptation to cheat and propensity to punish others for cheating, leading to a concept of "selfish punishment" that has been substantiated by a computer simulation model. This study demonstrates that fictional scenarios can provide an important methodological tool for studying the psychological basis of helping and punishment.
NSUWorks Citation
Eldakar, Omar Tonsi; David Sloan Wilson; and Rick O'Gorman. 2006. "Emotions and Actions Associated with Altruistic Helping and Punishment." Evolutionary Psychology 4, (): 274-286. doi:10.1177/147470490600400123.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-4807-4979
DOI
10.1177/147470490600400123
Comments
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page(http://www.uk.sagepub.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/aboutus/openaccess.htm).