Unit:
Διαπανεπιστημιακό ΠΜΣ Βασική και Εφαρμοσμένη Γνωσιακή ΕπιστήμηLibrary of the School of Science
Author:
Ναλμπάντη Παρασκευή
Supervisors info:
Αριστείδης Χατζής Αναπλ. Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ , Ελπίδα Τζαφέστα Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Η αλτρουιστική τιμωρία και η επίδρασή της στην ενίσχυση και την εδραίωση της συνεργασίας και των κανόνων κοινωνικής συμπεριφοράς
Translated title:
Altruistic punishment and its role in the reinforcement and establishment of cooperation and social norms
Summary:
The puzzle of cooperation in human societies constitutes a central question in
social sciences. Theories consistent with the neoclassical economic approach
of utility maximization fail to explain cooperation under conditions of
incomplete information, anonymity and lack of reputation building. Strong
reciprocity theory covers this gap, emphasizing the role of social preferences,
social norms and altruistic (costly) punishment, i.e. the incurrence of
material costs to punish a non-cooperative behaviour in the absence of
(direct&indirect) own material benefits. A range of findings elucidates
altruistic punishment's role in the development of cooperative norms:
behavioral experiments highlight its importance for the establishment of
cooperation and reveal its underlying psychological motivation mechanisms,
neuroimaging studies show it elicits feelings of reward and evolutionary
anthropological models support its role in the evolutionary stabilization of
cooperation. These findings call for a review of the neoclassical utility
theory approach and an extension towards the inclusionof social preferences
parameters. However important, the degree to which altruistic punishment
constitutes a key factor for cooperation in modern societies remains to be
assessed: modern cooperative norms seem to have become progressively based on
less costly mechanisms of sanctioning and policing, like coordinated social
coalitions, common pool institutions and the rule of law.
Keywords:
Altruistic (costly) punishment, Cooperation, Reciprocity, Social preferences, Social norms
Number of references:
112
