Strong reciprocity and human sociality (2000)
| Venue: | Journal of Theoretical Biology |
| Citations: | 224 - 16 self |
BibTeX
@ARTICLE{Gintis00strongreciprocity,
author = {Herbert Gintis},
title = {Strong reciprocity and human sociality},
journal = {Journal of Theoretical Biology},
year = {2000},
pages = {169--179}
}
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Abstract
Human groups maintain a high level of sociality despite a low level of relatedness among group members. This paper reviews the evidence for an empirically identifiable form of prosocial behavior in humans, which we call ‘strong reciprocity, ’ that may in part explain human sociality. A strong reciprocator is predisposed to cooperate with others and punish non-cooperators, even when this behavior cannot be justified in terms of extended kinship or reciprocal altruism. We present a simple model, stylized but plausible, of the evolutionary emergence of strong reciprocity. 1
