The psychology of human cooperation Flashcards

1
Q

What are three situations that require cooperation in daily life?

A

Group assignments, sports teams, community services

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2
Q

What are three situations that require cooperation in society?

A

Depletion of resources, spread of diseases, threats to security

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3
Q

Define cooperation

A

Prosocial behaviour that involves individuals working together for the collective welfare, often requiring personal sacrifices

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4
Q

How are social dilemmas created?

A

Conflict of interests between maximising ones personal welfare and collective welfare

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5
Q

What are three evolutionary motives for cooperation?

A
  1. Kin selection (people more likely to help those with whom they share a genetic link)
  2. Reciprocal altruism (people more likely to engage in altruistic behaviour to gain future benefits from others)
  3. Competitive altruism (people compete to be seen as the most altruistic member which yields repetitional benefits)
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6
Q

What are some examples of individual differences that affect if people cooperate?

A
  1. Social value orientation
  2. Trust
  3. Consideration of future consequences
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7
Q

What is meant by the individual difference social value orientation?

A

Three different types
1. Prosocials - value the welfare of others as much as own,
maximize joint outcomes and ensuring fairness
2. Individualists - prioritize own welfare over that of others,
maximize own outcomes regardless of the effects on others
3. Competitors - maximize own outcomes relative to others,
desire to win and be better off than others, even if it
means achieving a lower absolute outcome for themselves
as long as the differential is in their favor

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8
Q

How does trust affect cooperation?

A

Trust = belief that others are honesty and that trusting them is (not) risky
Those high in trust are more likely than those low in trust to contribute to public goods

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9
Q

What is meant by consideration of future consequences?
How does this affect cooperation?

A

Extent to which people consider the potential distant outcomes of their current behaviors and the extent to which they are influenced by these potential outcomes.
Individuals high in CFC are more likely to cooperate in social dilemmas and engage in pro-environmental behavior

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10
Q

What are some structural influences on whether people cooperate?

A
  1. Rewards and punishment
  2. Communication
  3. Repetition of interactions
  4. Group size
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11
Q

How do rewards/punishments affect cooperation?

A

People display more cooperation when there are sanctions compared to no sanctions

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12
Q

How does communication affect cooperation?

A

Communication has long been recognized as one of the most
effective solutions to promote cooperation in social dilemmas

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13
Q

How does repetition of interactions affect cooperation?

A

Repeated interaction with the same partner(s) may
encourage individuals to consider their long-term self-
interest, which in turn promotes cooperation

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14
Q

How does group size affect cooperation?

A

Increases in group size has been found to reduce self-efficacy, make people feel less responsible for group performance , and perceive greater anonymity – each of which could also explain a reduction in cooperation within larger group sizes

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15
Q

Societies with collectivistic values emphasise interdependence - what does this mean?

A

Individuals are committed to group goals and define themselves
in terms of belonging to stable closely knit groups

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16
Q

Societies with individualistic values emphasise
independence and autonomy - what does this mean?

A

Individuals are encouraged to establish connections to multiple groups, based on their personal needs and goals

17
Q

At the society level, what kind of society is more cooperative?

A

Collectivistic societies are less cooperative than individualistic
societies

18
Q

What is meant by relational mobility?
How is relational mobility related to cooperation?

A

Degree to which a society affords individuals with the opportunity to form or terminate interpersonal
relationships based on individual preferences
cooperation was higher in societies characterised by more flexible and fluid social relations (higher RM)

19
Q

What are some psychological solutions to promote cooperation?

A

Aimed at changing the thoughts and feelings of people involved… promoting trust, promoting longer term perspectives

20
Q

What are some structural solutions to promote cooperation?

A

Center on changing the interdependence structure of the
social dilemmas… providing rewards and punishments, creating opportunities for repeated interactions, dividing people into smaller groups, allowing for communication

21
Q

What are six different games used for measuring cooperation in a standardised way?

A
  1. Prisoner’s dilemma
  2. Public goods game
  3. Common resource game
  4. Dictator game
  5. Ultimatum game
  6. Trust game