Bargaining power and the evolution of un-fair, non-mutualistic moral norms

2013 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-93
Author(s):  
Francesco Guala
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Bargaining Power ◽  
Human History ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
General Account ◽  
Fairness Norms ◽  
Democratic Societies ◽  
Special Case

AbstractMutualistic theory explains convincingly the prevalence of fairness norms in small societies of foragers and in large contemporary democratic societies. However, it cannot explain the U-shaped curve of egalitarianism in human history. A theory based on bargaining power is able to provide a more general account and to explain mutualism as a special case. According to this approach, social norms may be more variable and malleable than Baumard et al. suggest.

Norms

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Elster
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Fairness Norms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Political Norms ◽  
The Relationship

This article explores the relationship between norms and action, making a distinction between social and moral norms, quasi-moral norms, legal norms, and conventions. It defines ‘social norm’ as a non-outcome-oriented injunction to act or to abstain from acting, sustained by the sanctions that others apply to norm violators. After explaining how social norms operate, the article considers some important or representative social norms, including work norms, tipping norms, queueing norms, fairness norms and political norms. It also compares social norms with other motivations to act and argues that social norms are ultimately sustained by the emotions of contempt (or indignation) and shame. Yet the influence of emotion on behavior is much larger than the impact mediated by social norms.

scholarly journals Moral labels increase cooperation and costly punishment in a Prisoner’s Dilemma game with punishment option

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Mieth ◽  
Axel Buchner ◽  
Raoul Bell
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Prisoner's Dilemma ◽  
Prisoner’S Dilemma ◽  
Framing Effects ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Prisoner’S Dilemma Game ◽  
Costly Punishment ◽  
Moral Framing ◽  
Prisoner's Dilemma Game

AbstractTo determine the role of moral norms in cooperation and punishment, we examined the effects of a moral-framing manipulation in a Prisoner’s Dilemma game with a costly punishment option. In each round of the game, participants decided whether to cooperate or to defect. The Prisoner’s Dilemma game was identical for all participants with the exception that the behavioral options were paired with moral labels (“I cooperate” and “I cheat”) in the moral-framing condition and with neutral labels (“A” and “B”) in the neutral-framing condition. After each round of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game, participants had the opportunity to invest some of their money to punish their partners. In two experiments, moral framing increased moral and hypocritical punishment: participants were more likely to punish partners for defection when moral labels were used than when neutral labels were used. When the participants’ cooperation was enforced by their partners’ moral punishment, moral framing did not only increase moral and hypocritical punishment but also cooperation. The results suggest that moral framing activates a cooperative norm that specifically increases moral and hypocritical punishment. Furthermore, the experience of moral punishment by the partners may increase the importance of social norms for cooperation, which may explain why moral framing effects on cooperation were found only when participants were subject to moral punishment.

scholarly journals The Ethics of Stigma in Medical Male Circumcision Initiatives Involving Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Rennie ◽  
Adam Gilbertson ◽  
Denise Hallfors ◽  
Winnie K Luseno
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Male Circumcision ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Human History ◽  
Health Prevention ◽  
Medical Male Circumcision ◽  
Demand Creation ◽  
Ethics Research

Abstract Ongoing global efforts to circumcise adolescent and adult males to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV constitute the largest public health prevention initiative, using surgical means, in human history. Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs in Africa have significantly altered social norms related to male circumcision among previously non-circumcising groups and groups that have practiced traditional (non-medical) circumcision. One consequence of this change is the stigmatization of males who, for whatever reason, remain uncircumcised. This paper discusses the ethics of stigma with regard to uncircumcised adolescent males in global VMMC programs, particularly in certain recruitment, demand creation and social norm interventions. Grounded in our own experiences gained while conducting HIV-related ethics research with adolescents in Kenya, we argue that use of explicit or implicit stigma to increase the number of VMMC volunteers is unethical from a public health ethics perspective, particularly in campaigns that leverage social norms of masculinity. Ongoing global efforts to circumcise adolescent and adult males to reduce their risk of acquiring HIV constitute the largest public health prevention initiative, using surgical means, in human history. VMMC programs in Africa have significantly altered social norms related to male circumcision among previously non-circumcising groups and groups that have practiced traditional (non-medical) circumcision. One consequence of this change is the stigmatization of males who, for whatever reason, remain uncircumcised. This paper discusses the ethics of stigma with regard to uncircumcised adolescent males in global VMMC programs, particularly in certain recruitment, demand creation and social norm interventions. Grounded in our own experiences gained while conducting HIV-related ethics research with adolescents in Kenya, we argue that use of explicit or implicit stigma to increase the number of VMMC volunteers is unethical from a public health ethics perspective, particularly in campaigns that leverage social norms of masculinity.

MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND SOCIAL NORMS

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-236
Author(s):  
Chad Van Schoelandt
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Reactive Attitude ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Moral Accountability ◽  
Norm Change ◽  
Moral Demands

Abstract:This essay argues that moral accountability depends upon having a shared system of social norms. In particular, it argues that the Strawsonian reactive attitude of resentment is only fitting when people can reasonably expect a mutual recognition of the justified demands to which they are being held. Though such recognition should not typically be expected of moral demands that are thought to be independent of any social practice, social norms can ground such mutual recognition. On this account, a significant part of a society’s social norms are also properly seen as moral norms. The essay defends this overlap of social and moral norms in contrast to views on which moral norms and social norms are sharply distinguished. Lastly, the essay concludes by addressing challenges for accountability in circumstances of norm change.

Occasionalism and the Cartesian Metaphysic of Motion*

1975 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Lennon
Keyword(s):  
Body Problem ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Body Interaction ◽  
General Account ◽  
Causal Connections ◽  
Mind Body Problem ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Special Case

Occasionalism is often taken by historians of philosophy to have been an ad hoc hypothesis to establish the mind-body causal connections which on Cartesian principles are thought otherwise impossible. My aim in this paper is to show that this view is utterly without historical foundation, that, on the contrary, the view that only God can be a real cause of mind-body interaction was but a special case of a claim argued on grounds transcending the mind-body problem, and, what will be part of this, that the logical character of occasionalism anyhow precluded it from the role into which it was later miscast. More specifically, I shall show that occasionalism was but a consequence of the metaphysics adopted by the Cartesians in their general account of change. Though the same case could be made for the views of Clauberg and Geulincx, my concern will be with the occasionalism of Malebranche. My case here will be that his view is the historical and logical dénouement of principles more or less explicit both in Descartes and in two of his lesser known disciples, LaForge and Cordemoy.

scholarly journals O pojęciu czynu moralnego

Etyka ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
Jerzy Wróblewski
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Norms And Values

The author analysed the notion of moral act from the standpoint of materialist philosophy after having distinguished moral norms and values from other social norms and values, ethics from metaethics, and after having described the connection between moral norms and values.

scholarly journals Deviant Behavior of Youth in the Context of Psychology and Pedagogy

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 6725-6729
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Deviant Behavior ◽  
Healthy Person ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Abnormal Behavior ◽  
Social Maladjustment ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Norms And Values

Introduction. The most important national mission of any state is the formation of sustainable and healthy society. Priority object of national interests is the youth, because the future of society and state depends on the habitual behavior, lifestyle, personal qualities of modern youth. Methods. According to political scientists and sociologists, the criterion defining the concept of “social norm” is its impact on social welfare. If this impact is destructive and represents a real threat to the physical and social survival of a person, it is considered the boundary that separates norm from deviation. Results. In social pedagogy, deviant behavior is defined as the type of abnormal behavior associated with the violation of social norms and rules of behavior characteristic of the relevant age, micro-social relations (family, school) and minor gender-age social groups. Deviant behavior should be considered within the medical norm and not identified with mental illnesses or pathological disorders. Most researchers consider the violation of social norms and norms of behavior as the main criterion for deviations and consider this phenomenon in term of “adaptation (socialization) – disadaptation (de-socialization)”. Discussion. Deviant behavior is a type of abnormal behavior of a mentally healthy person, leading to his/her social maladjustment as a result of steady violation of social and moral norms and values adopted in a given society. The study proved that deviations are characterized by various behavioral signs (abnormalities). Conclusion. Analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature allowed us to identify the following factors influencing formation and development of various deviant behavior forms: socio-economic, sociocultural, biological, psychological, pedagogical, subcultural.

scholarly journals Social norms in indirect reciprocity with ternary reputations

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohsuke Murase ◽  
Minjae Kim ◽  
Seung Ki Baek
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Dilemmas ◽  
Evolutionary Stability ◽  
Reputation Systems ◽  
Indirect Reciprocity ◽  
Crude Approximation ◽  
Special Case

AbstractIndirect reciprocity is a key mechanism that promotes cooperation in social dilemmas by means of reputation. Although it has been a common practice to represent reputations by binary values, either ‘good’ or ‘bad’, such a dichotomy is a crude approximation considering the complexity of reality. In this work, we studied norms with three different reputations, i.e., ‘good’, ‘neutral’, and ‘bad’. Through massive supercomputing for handling more than thirty billion possibilities, we fully identified which norms achieve cooperation and possess evolutionary stability against behavioural mutants. By systematically categorizing all these norms according to their behaviours, we found similarities and dissimilarities to their binary-reputation counterpart, the leading eight. We obtained four rules that should be satisfied by the successful norms, and the behaviour of the leading eight can be understood as a special case of these rules. A couple of norms that show counter-intuitive behaviours are also presented. We believe the findings are also useful for designing successful norms with more general reputation systems.

On the Identification and Analysis of Social Norms and the Heuristic Relevance of Deviant Behaviour

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Karl Mertens
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Deviant Behaviour ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Social Reactions ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
Institutional Norms

The chapter shows that a conceptual and phenomenologically grounded approach to social norms provides useful insights into the question of whether normativity is an exclusively human phenomenon. Social norms are to be distinguished from social rules like conventions, customs, moral norms, and institutional norms. The exact character of social norms is revealed most clearly in cases of transgression, i.e. by considering social reactions to persons disobeying or violating what is requested on a normative level. In these contexts, it also becomes clear that one becomes explicitly aware of pre-existing social norms through sanctions against norm-deviant behaviour. Since sanctions need not be verbal, they make it possible to consider cases of social normativity also in the area of animal behaviour. In its analysis of norm-deviant behaviour, the chapter integrates both holistic and individualistic methodologies.

Fehr on Altruism, Emotion, and Norms

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Elster
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Group Selection ◽  
Irrational Belief ◽  
Free Rider ◽  
Belief Formation ◽  
Altruistic Behavior ◽  
Warm Glow ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Free Rider Problem

AbstractI discuss recent work by Ernst Fehr and his collaborators on cooperation and reciprocity. (i) Their work demonstrates conclusively the reality and importance of non-self-interested motivations. (ii) It allows for a useful distinction between trust and blind trust. (iii) It points to a category of quasi-moral norms, distinct both from social norms and moral norms. (iv) It demonstrates how social interactions can generate irrational belief formation. (v) It shows the potential of punishment for sustaining social norms and for overcoming the second-order free rider problem as well as obstacles to group selection. (vi) It offers a provocative experimental basis for the ‘warm-glow’ explanation of altruistic behavior. I conclude by suggesting some experiments that might allow for further developments of the theory.

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