Altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of norm violations in the field.

ABSTRACT: The degree of human cooperation among strangers is a major evolutionary puzzle. A prominent explanation is that cooperation is maintained because many individuals have a predisposition to punish those violating group-beneficial norms. A critical condition for cooperation to evolve in evolutionary models is that punishment increases with the severity of the violation. Here we present evidence from a field experiment with real-life interactions that, unlike in lab experiments, altruistic punishment does not increase with the severity of the violation, regardless of whether it is direct (confronting a violator) or indirect (withholding help). We also document growing concerns for counter-punishment as the severity of the violation increases, indicating that the marginal cost of direct punishm

SUBMITTER: Balafoutas L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5097122 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature