Cooperative behaviour and prosocial reputation dynamics in a Dominican village

Shane J Macfarlan; Robert Quinlan; Mark Remiker

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0557

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Cooperative behaviour and prosocial reputation dynamics in a Dominican village

Journal article

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Cooperative behaviour and prosocial reputation dynamics in a Dominican village

Shane J Macfarlan, Robert Quinlan and Mark Remiker

Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences, Vol.280(1761), pp.20130557-20130557

06/22/2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0557

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103592

PMCID: PMC3652444

PMID: 23760642

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Abstract

Regression Analysis

Age Factors

Rural Population

Social Behavior

Humans

Cooperative Behavior

Models, Psychological

Female

Male

Interpersonal Relations

Dominica

Prosocial reputations play an important role, from the evolution of language to Internet transactions; however, questions remain about their behavioural correlates and dynamics. Formal models assume prosocial reputations correlate with the number of cooperative acts one performs; however, if reputations flow through information networks, then the number of individuals one assists may be a better proxy. Formal models demonstrate indirect experience must track behaviour with the same fidelity as direct experience for reputations to become viable; however, research on corporate reputations suggests performance change does not always affect reputation change. Debate exists over the cognitive mechanisms employed for assessing reputation dynamics. Image scoring suggests reputations fluctuate relative to the number of times one fails to assist others in need, while standing strategy claims reputations fluctuate relative to the number of times one fails to assist others in good standing. This study examines the behavioural correlates of prosocial reputations and their dynamics over a 20-month period in an Afro-Caribbean village. Analyses suggest prosocial reputations: (i) are correlated with the number of individuals one assists in economic production, not the number of cooperative acts; (ii) track cooperative behaviour, but are anchored across time; and (iii) are captured neither by image scoring nor standing strategy-type mechanisms.

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Title: Cooperative behaviour and prosocial reputation dynamics in a Dominican village
Creators: Shane J Macfarlan - Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 107 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. macfarlans@missouri.edu
Robert Quinlan
Mark Remiker
Publication Details: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences, Vol.280(1761), pp.20130557-20130557
Academic Unit: Anthropology, Department of
Publisher: England
Identifiers: 99900546503501842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article