Egalitarian motive and altruistic punishment (reply)

Ernst Fehr and Simon Gächter

Nature, 2005, vol. 433, issue 7021, E1-E2

Abstract: Abstract Fehr and Gächter reply - Fowler et al. raise an important question1. They correctly argue that the desire to reduce inequality may motivate cooperators who altruistically punish free riders in our experiments2. Also, the evolutionary history of humans suggests that egalitarianism shaped many human cultures3 and that egalitarian motives may, therefore, be a powerful force behind the punishment of free riders. In addition, recently developed proximate theories4, which formalize the notion of inequality aversion, also suggest that egalitarian desires may be important. Fowler et al. contrast their egalitarianism hypothesis with our view that negative emotions against free riders drive punishment.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03257

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