The Roots of Human Sociality: An Ethno-Experimental Exploration of the Foundations of Economic Norms in 16 Small-Scale Societies

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

0136761 Ensminger & Henrich In all human societies, a wide range of social phenomena are governed by self-regulating institutions, or sets of norms that prescribe appropriate behaviors and proper sanctions for inappropriate behavior. Such norms influence an enormous range of human activity, from marriage patterns and sexual inequality to political processes and market exchange. Despite a fair amount of agreement that such institutions exist, extant theories struggle to explain the genesis and maintenance of pro-social norms (e.g., standards of fairness, or rules for punishing norm violators) that form the bedrock of social interaction. Both experimental and field data from across the social sciences indicate that neither assumptions of narrow economic self-interest nor evolutionary models based on kinship or reciprocity are sufficient to account for the observed patterns of human pro-sociality. To probe the diversity of social norms and preferences across the human spectrum, in 1998 the MacArthur Foundation invited twelve experienced field anthropologists to pioneer the use of experimental economic methods in small-scale societies. In this second phase of research, the researchers will explore the foundations of social norms by experimentally measuring individuals' preferences/tastes for altruism (or fairness), direct punishment (willingness to punish norm violators), and third party punishment (willingness of third-party observers to pay a price to punish unfairness) across 16 small-scale societies. These field sites include foragers, slash and burn horticulturalists, pastoral-nomads, small-scale agriculturalists, and urban wage laborers on most continents of the world. One of the advantages of running experiments in these contexts is that the social spectrum of subjects is broadened from those typically found in U.S. university laboratories. The overall objectives of this new research are to replicate the earlier work (including the finding that altruistic behavior increases with the level of market integration), to broaden the research by including nine new sites and new experiments, to tighten the data collection methods across sites, and to extend the research with new testable predictions. A core package of three games (the Dictator, Ultimatum with Strategy Method, and Third-Party Punishment Games) will be used at all 16 field sites. In addition, subsets of the group will pursue four supplemental studies to examine: 1) the relationship between social networks and trust, 2) framing effects created by manipulating the presentation of the games in the local culture, 3) the effect of the experimenter's knowledge of subjects' decisions in double-blind games, and 4) the temporal, intra-individual replicability of game behavior, i.e. if the same game is repeated with the same subjects, do preferences change? One of the advantages of a large and diverse group of researchers is the variety of theoretical traditions and interests brought to the table. The group contains scholars who have done their major theoretical and empirical work in the fields of evolutionary theory, psychological anthropology, rational choice, new institutional economics, development, and network analysis. Previous experience has shown that this theoretical diversity inspires novel ideas, innovative empirical work, and theoretical development through the challenges that arise from the clash of paradigms. This project should contribute to theoretical work that explores the importance of social learning, institutions, cultural evolution, and culture-gene co-evolution on human behavior.