Cooperate without looking: Why we care what people think and not just what they do
Abstract
Why do we trust people more when they do good without considering in detail the cost to themselves? People who avoid “looking” at the costs of good acts can be trusted to cooperate in important situations, whereas those who look cannot. We find that evolutionary dynamics can lead to cooperation without looking at costs. Our results illuminate why we attend closely to people’s motivations for doing good, as prescribed by deontological ethicists such as Kant, and, also, why we admire principled people, adhere to taboos, and fall in love.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 26, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1417904112
Entities
People
- Erez Yoeli
- Martin A. Nowak
- Moshe Hoffman
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- Harvard University
- John Templeton Foundation
- National Science Foundation