Behavioural homogenization with spillovers in a normative domain

The importance of culture for human social evolution hinges largely on the extent to which culture supports outcomes that would not otherwise occur. An especially controversial claim is that social learning leads groups to coalesce around group-typical behaviours and associated social norms that spill over to shape choices in asocial settings. To test this, we conducted an experiment with 878 groups of participants in 116 communities in Sudan. Participants watched a short film and evaluated the appropriate way to behave in the situation dramatized in the film. Each session consisted of an asocial condition in which participants provided private evaluations and a social condition in which they provided public evaluations. Public evaluations allowed for social learning. Across sessions, we randomized the order of the two conditions. Public choices dramatically increased the homogeneity of normative evaluations. When the social condition was first, this homogenizing effect spilled over to subsequent asocial conditions. The asocial condition when first was thus alone in producing distinctly heterogeneous groups. Altogether, information about the choices of others led participants to converge rapidly on similar normative evaluations that continued to hold sway in subsequent asocial settings. These spillovers were at least partly owing to the combined effects of conformity and self-consistency. Conformity dominated self-consistency when the two mechanisms were in conflict, but self-consistency otherwise produced choices that persisted through time. Additionally, the tendency to conform was heterogeneous. Females conformed more than males, and conformity increased with the number of other people a decision-maker observed before making her own choice.

Download Full-text

New research frameworks in the study of chimpanzee and gorilla sociality and communication

10.32942/osf.io/d8j3r ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Sam G. B. Roberts ◽

Anna Roberts

Keyword(s):

Social Evolution ◽

Social Complexity ◽

Brain Size ◽

Social Systems ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

The Social ◽

Human Social Evolution ◽

Research Frameworks ◽

New Research ◽

Large Groups

Group size in primates is strongly correlated with brain size, but exactly what makes larger groups more ‘socially complex’ than smaller groups is still poorly understood. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) are among our closest living relatives and are excellent model species to investigate patterns of sociality and social complexity in primates, and to inform models of human social evolution. The aim of this paper is to propose new research frameworks, particularly the use of social network analysis, to examine how social structure differs in small, medium and large groups of chimpanzees and gorillas, to explore what makes larger groups more socially complex than smaller groups. Given a fission-fusion system is likely to have characterised hominins, a comparison of the social complexity involved in fission-fusion and more stable social systems is likely to provide important new insights into human social evolution

Download Full-text

Dream-Sharing and Human Self-Domestication

10.31234/osf.io/7ytn5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mark Blagrove ◽

Julia Lockheart

Keyword(s):

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Social Evolution ◽

Cultural Practices ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

The Social ◽

Primary Driver ◽

Group Members ◽

Human Social Evolution ◽

Dream Sharing ◽

Experimental Findings

There are many theories of the function of dreams, such as memory consolidation, emotion processing, threat simulation and social simulation. In general, such theories hold that the function of dreams occurs within sleep; occurs for unrecalled dreams as well as for dream that are recalled on awakening; and that conscious recall of dreams is not necessary for their function to occur. In contrast, we propose that dreams have an effect of enhancing empathy and group bonding when dreams are shared and discussed with others. We propose also that this effect would have occurred in history and pre-history and, as it would have enhanced the cohesiveness and mutual understanding of group members, the fictional and engaging characteristics of dream content would have been selected for during human social evolution, interacting with cultural practices of dream-sharing. Such dream-sharing may have taken advantage of the long REM periods that occur for biological reasons near the end of the night. Dream-production and dream-sharing may have developed alongside story-telling, utilising common neural mechanisms. Dream-sharing hence would have contributed to Human Self-Domestication, held by many researchers to be the primary driver of the evolution of human prosociality, tolerance and reduced intragroup emotional reactivity. We note that within-sleep theories of dream function rely on correlational rather than experimental findings, and have as yet untested and speculative mechanisms, whereas post-sleep effects of dream-sharing are easily testable and have mechanisms congruent with the social processes proposed by the theory of Human Self-Domestication.

Download Full-text

Male cooperation for breeding opportunities contributes to the evolution of multilevel societies

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2017.1480 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 284 (1863) ◽

pp. 20171480 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Xiao-Guang Qi ◽

Kang Huang ◽

Gu Fang ◽

Cyril C. Grueter ◽

Derek W. Dunn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Social Evolution ◽

Satellite Telemetry ◽

Primate Species ◽

Phylogenetic Reconstructions ◽

The Social ◽

Human Social Evolution ◽

Male Bonds ◽

Multilevel Societies ◽

Insight Into

A small number of primate species including snub-nosed monkeys (colobines), geladas (papionins) and humans live in multilevel societies (MLSs), in which multiple one-male polygamous units (OMUs) coexist to form a band, and non-breeding males associate in bachelor groups. Phylogenetic reconstructions indicate that the papionin MLS appears to have evolved through internal fissioning of large mixed-sex groups, whereas the colobine MLS evolved through the aggregation of small, isolated OMUs. However, how agonistic males maintain tolerance under intensive competition over limited breeding opportunities remains unclear. Using a combination of behavioural analysis, satellite telemetry and genetic data, we quantified the social network of males in a bachelor group of golden snub-nosed monkeys. The results show a strong effect of kinship on social bonds among bachelors. Their interactions ranged from cooperation to agonism, and were regulated by access to mating partners. We suggest that an ‘arms race’ between breeding males' collective defence against usurpation attempts by bachelor males and bachelor males' aggregative offence to obtain reproductive opportunities has selected for larger group size on both sides. The results provide insight into the role that kin selection plays in shaping inter-male cohesion which facilities the evolution of multilevel societies. These findings have implications for understanding human social evolution, as male–male bonds are a hallmark of small- and large-scale human societies.

Download Full-text

PERBINCANGAN DI MEDIA SOSIAL FILM PENDEK TILIK SEBAGAI HASIL DARI STRATEGI DIGITAL

Digismantech (Jurnal Program Studi Bisnis Digital) ◽

10.30813/digismantech.v1i1.2285 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Panji Nandiasa Ananda Mukadis

Keyword(s):

Public Relations ◽

Social Condition ◽

Digital Marketing ◽

Short Film ◽

Specific Situation ◽

Community Based ◽

Good Product ◽

The Social ◽

National Media ◽

Production House

Tidak setiap saat bisa kita temukan sebuah film pendek Indonesia menghasilkan perbincangan yang masif seperti film Tilik. Film pendek karya dari sutradara Wahyu Agung Prasetyo dan diproduki oleh Ravacana Films, sebuah rumah produksi berbasis komunitas di Yogyakarta memperoleh dua juta views di Youtube per 21 Agustus 2020. Awal diunggah sejak 17 Agustus 2020 film Tilik telah menarik banyak penonton hingga menghasilkan puluhan ribu views. Setelah beberapa hari jumlah views meningkat berkali lipat usai mendapat beragam reaksi dan akhirnya menghasilkan views beratus kali lipat, juga perbincangan yang terus berdengung di media sosial. Perbincangan yang terus bergulir mengenai Tilik kemudian menghasilkan peliputan lanjutan di media daring, cetak, maupun liputan di televisi yang tidak main-main nilainya bila dihitung secara nilai Public Relations (PR Value). Apa yang terjadi pada Tilik bukan lahir begitu saja melainkan hasil hasil dari strategi digital dan didasari teknis yang memadai serta pilihan-pilihan dalam alur cerita yang membuatnya menjadi bahan perbincangan di media sosial. Bicara tentang jumlah views dan perbincangan seputar film Tilik kita juga perlu memperhatikan kondisi sosial masyarakat saat film ini beredar secara daring Tidak lupa sebagai sebuah film, Tilik juga harus dilihat konteks yang dibawa, konteks yang memberinya bekal yang cukup untuk menanamkan menghasilkan traksi pada awal dan berbagai modal untuk jadi bahan perbincangan hari-hari pertama sejak film ini ditayangkan di Youtube.Kata Kunci: Film Pendek, Youtube, Media Sosial, Konten Viral, Pemasaran Digital An Indonesian short film produced massive conversations like the film Tilik which is rarely found in our daily lives.A film directed by Wahyu Agung Prasetio and produced by Ravacana Films, a community-based production house in Yogyakarta had gained two million views on YouTube per 21 August 2020. The first day it was uploaded 17 August 2020, it had gained many tractions until around 30K views, and then different kind of reactions multiply the number of viewers and conversation that also attract coverages from national media, online, offline, and also chose to be content for several television program, some coverage that is so pricey if we talk about Public Relations (PR) Value aspect.. The phenomena of Tilik is not for coming without reason, it came from some specific situation and then supported with good product material, and digital strategy. Talking about the number of its views we cannot cease to discuss the social condition around the society at that time. As a film, we cannot ignore the context of Tilik, context that had given it enough resource to gain traction from relevant people and communities. Context that had also gave it enough conversation materials the first days it was published on YouTube.Keywords: Short Film, Youtube, Social Media, Viral Content, Digital Marketing

Download Full-text

Human Social Evolution: A Comparison of Hunter-gatherer and Chimpanzee Social Organization

Social Brain, Distributed Mind ◽

10.5871/bacad/9780197264522.003.0005 ◽

2010 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Robert Layton ◽

Sean O'Hara

Keyword(s):

Social Evolution ◽

Central Africa ◽

Division Of Labour ◽

Social Unit ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

The Social ◽

Human Social Evolution ◽

Similar Body ◽

Human Foraging ◽

Lower Population

This chapter compares the social behaviour of human hunter-gatherers with that of the better-studied chimpanzee species, Pan troglodytes, in an attempt to pinpoint the unique features of human social evolution. Although hunter-gatherers and chimpanzees living in central Africa have similar body weights, humans live at much lower population densities due to their greater dependence on predation. Human foraging parties have longer duration than those of chimpanzees, lasting hours rather than minutes, and a higher level of mutual dependence, through the division of labour between men (hunting) and women (gathering); which is in turn related to pair-bonding, and meat sharing to reduce the risk of individual hunters' failure on any particular day. The band appears to be a uniquely human social unit that resolves the tension between greater dispersion and greater interdependence.

Download Full-text

The New Human Science

Darwin's Roadmap to the Curriculum ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190624965.003.0007 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 117-156

Author(s):

Joanne Souza ◽

Paul M. Bingham

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Social Evolution ◽

Conflicts Of Interest ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Human Origins ◽

Coercion Theory ◽

Ultimate Causation ◽

The Social ◽

Human Social Evolution ◽

Social Coercion

All prior attempts to understand human origins, behavior, and history have led to paradoxes and dilemmas, highly resistant to resolution. This chapter reviews specific cases of failures to resolve these apparent paradoxes and dilemmas in human evolution and the social sciences. The authors argue that these failures are rooted in confusing proximate with ultimate causation. They further argue that a sound theory of human origins, behavior, and history (social coercion theory) can help to understand the human condition scientifically; specifically, this theory argues that all the unique properties of humans emerge from the unprecedented human social evolution, driven, in turn by the evolution of cost-effective coercive management of conflicts of interest. Finally, the authors argue that social coercion theory yields the first general theory of history, economics, and politics, which provides an approach to problems within the social sciences while armed with a grasp of ultimate causation. Consequently, formerly intractable scientific questions and social concerns become manageable and solvable.

Download Full-text

Humans prefer to copy success rather than the social norm in a cooperative game

10.31235/osf.io/6gtxc ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maxwell Burton-Chellew ◽

Victoire D'Amico

Keyword(s):

Social Learning ◽

Social Norms ◽

Cooperative Game ◽

Cultural Evolution ◽

Social Norm ◽

Public Goods Game ◽

Learning Mechanisms ◽

The Public ◽

The Social ◽

Personal Success

It is often claimed that human cooperation is special, and can only be explained by gene-culture co-evolution favouring a desire to follow pro-social norms. If this is true then individuals should be motivated to both observe, and copy, common social behaviours (social norms). Previous economic experiments, using the public goods game, have suggested individuals are motivated to follow social norms. However, natural selection should favour individuals whom prefer to discover and copy successful behaviours, and previous experiments have often not shown examples of success. Here we test, on 489 participants, if individuals are more motivated to learn about, and more likely to copy, either common or successful behaviours. Using the same cooperative game and instructions, we find that individuals are primarily motivated to copy successful rather than common behaviours. Consequently, social learning disfavours costly cooperation, even when individuals can observe a stable, pro-social, norm. Our results suggest that human social learning mechanisms have evolved to maximize personal success, and call into question explanations for human cooperation based on cultural evolution and/or a desire to follow social norms.

Download Full-text

Humans prefer to copy success rather than the social norm in a cooperative game

10.31234/osf.io/uj9yw ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maxwell Burton-Chellew ◽

Victoire D'Amico

Keyword(s):

Social Learning ◽

Social Norms ◽

Cooperative Game ◽

Cultural Evolution ◽

Social Norm ◽

Public Goods Game ◽

Learning Mechanisms ◽

The Public ◽

The Social ◽

Personal Success

Download Full-text

Naïve Normativity: The Social Foundation of Moral Cognition

Journal of the American Philosophical Association ◽

10.1017/apa.2019.30 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 36-56 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

KRISTIN ANDREWS

Keyword(s):

Social Cognition ◽

Social Learning ◽

Social Norms ◽

Folk Psychology ◽

Empirical Work ◽

Great Apes ◽

Psychological Research ◽

Group Differences ◽

Moral Cognition ◽

The Social

AbstractTo answer tantalizing questions such as whether animals are moral or how morality evolved, I propose starting with a somewhat less fraught question: do animals have normative cognition? Recent psychological research suggests that normative thinking, or ought-thought, begins early in human development. Recent philosophical research suggests that folk psychology is grounded in normative thought. Recent primatology research finds evidence of sophisticated cultural and social learning capacities in great apes. Drawing on these three literatures, I argue that the human variety of social cognition and moral cognition encompass the same cognitive capacities and that the nonhuman great apes may also be normative beings. To make this argument, I develop an account of animal social norms that shares key properties with Cristina Bicchieri's account of social norms but which lowers the cognitive requirements for having a social norm. I propose a set of four early developing prerequisites implicated in social cognition that make up what I call naïve normativity: (1) the ability to identify agents, (2) sensitivity to in-group/out-group differences, (3) the capacity for social learning of group traditions, and (4) responsiveness to appropriateness. I review the ape cognition literature and present preliminary empirical evidence supporting the existence of social norms and naïve normativity in great apes. While there is more empirical work to be done, I hope to have offered a framework for studying normativity in other species, and I conclude that we should be open to the possibility that normative cognition is yet another ancient cognitive endowment that is not human-unique.

Download Full-text

Evolutionary Theory in the Social Philosophy of Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Hypatia ◽

10.1111/j.1527-2001.1989.tb00870.x ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 102-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Maureen L. Egan

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Evolutionary Theory ◽

Social Evolution ◽

Social Philosophy ◽

Charlotte Perkins Gilman ◽

Late Nineteenth Century ◽

The Social ◽

Late Nineteenth ◽

Human Social Evolution

This paper examines Charlotte Perkins Gilman's connection with the evolutionist ideas of late nineteenth century Reform Darwinism. It focuses on the assumptions that her language and use of metaphor reveal, and upon her vision of human social evolution as a meUoristic process through which the equality of the sexes must finally emerge.

Download Full-text