Egalitarian motives in humans

Christopher T. Dawes, James H. Fowler (), Tim Johnson, Richard McElreath and Oleg Smirnov
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Christopher T. Dawes: University of California, San Diego, California 92093, USA
James H. Fowler: University of California, San Diego, California 92093, USA
Tim Johnson: Center for Adaptive Behaviour and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin 14195, Germany
Richard McElreath: University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
Oleg Smirnov: University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124, USA

Nature, 2007, vol. 446, issue 7137, 794-796

Abstract: Equality control A behavioural study has provided clear evidence that egalitarian sentiment is a cause for punishment in multilateral human interactions. In a laboratory game, players were allocated different sums of money, and were then able to 'reward' or 'punish' others by giving or taking money away. The richest players were penalized the hardest, whilst the poorest were penalized the least. The players appeared to be motivated by an emotional reaction to inequality, since they reduced and increased others' incomes at a personal cost, even when there was no cooperative behaviour to be reinforced. Egalitarian motives could be an important factor in the evolution of reciprocity and cooperation in humans.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05651

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