Dataset Information

Sustained cooperation by running away from bad behavior.

ABSTRACT: For cooperation to evolve, some mechanism must limit the rate at which cooperators are exposed to defectors. Only then can the advantages of mutual cooperation outweigh the costs of being exploited. Although researchers widely agree on this, they disagree intensely about which evolutionary mechanisms can explain the extraordinary cooperation exhibited by humans. Much of the controversy follows from disagreements about the informational regularity that allows cooperators to avoid defectors. Reliable information can allow cooperative individuals to avoid exploitation, but which mechanisms can sustain such a situation is a matter of considerable dispute. We conducted a behavioral experiment to see if cooperators could avoid defectors when provided with limited amounts of explicit information. We gave each participant the simple option to move away from her current neighborhood at any time. Participants were not identifiable as individuals, and they could not track each other's tendency to behave more or less cooperatively. More broadly, a participant had no information about the behavior she was likely to encounter if she moved, and so information about the risk of exploitation was extremely limited. Nonetheless, our results show that simply providing the option to move allowed cooperation to persist for a long period of time. Our results further show that movement, even though it involved considerable uncertainty, allowed would-be cooperators to assort positively and eliminate on average any individual payoff disadvantage associated with cooperation. This suggests that choosing to move, even under limited information, can completely reorganize the mix of selective forces relevant for the evolution of cooperation.

SUBMITTER: Efferson C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4699639 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Sustained cooperation by running away from bad behavior.

Efferson Charles C Roca Carlos P CP Vogt Sonja S Helbing Dirk D

Evolution and human behavior : official journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society 20160101 1

For cooperation to evolve, some mechanism must limit the rate at which cooperators are exposed to defectors. Only then can the advantages of mutual cooperation outweigh the costs of being exploited. Although researchers widely agree on this, they disagree intensely about which evolutionary mechanisms can explain the extraordinary cooperation exhibited by humans. Much of the controversy follows from disagreements about the informational regularity that allows cooperators to avoid defectors. Relia ...[more]

PMID: 26766895

Similar Datasets

Project description:Background: Legislative initiatives have been implemented to fight against Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and offer protection to its survivors in Vietnam. However, this type of violence is relatively common in the country, where broader structural inequalities, like poverty and the system of male dominance, increase women's vulnerability to IPV. Objective: This study aimed to explore the strategies that Vietnamese IPV survivors take to cope with the abuse from their partners and maximize their safety and wellbeing. Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with eight women survivors of IPV who lived in one of the Peace House Shelter in Hanoi. Participants were recruited through the shelter. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using qualitative content framed by the theoretical concept of the patriarchal bargain. Results: The IPV survivors in our study took two main strategies to cope with IPV: keeping silent and/or leaving the abuser. Leaving was a challenging strategy because it required support from others, something that was difficult to find due to the social stigma associated with divorce and the normalization of violence in intimate relationships. This was specially the case for participants coming from rural areas who did not count on a social network in the city where the shelter is located. The women strategized within a complex set of structural constrains like poverty, cultures of honor, social stigma, and traditional gender roles. As active agents, they decided whether challenging the patriarchal system would optimize their life options. Motherhood also played a crucial role in women's decisions regarding IPV. Conclusion: A strategy of conformity like silence can be a tactic for women to cope with a system of male dominance while navigating complex structural inequalities. To better address IPV in Vietnam, interventions should be sensitive to the structural gender inequalities within family and societal contexts.

Dataset Information

Sustained cooperation by running away from bad behavior.

Publications

Sustained cooperation by running away from bad behavior.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets