Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T09:04:51.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Altruism, collective rationality, and extreme self-sacrifice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Andrew M. Colman Open the ORCID record for Andrew M. Colman [Opens in a new window]  and
Briony D. Pulford Open the ORCID record for Briony D. Pulford [Opens in a new window]
Andrew M. Colman
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom. amc@le.ac.ukbdp5@le.ac.ukhttps://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/amchttps://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/bdp5
Briony D. Pulford
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom. amc@le.ac.ukbdp5@le.ac.ukhttps://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/amchttps://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/bdp5
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Puzzlement about extreme self-sacrifice arises from an unarticulated assumption of psychological egoism, according to which people invariably act in their own self-interests. However, altruism and collective rationality are well established experimentally: people sometimes act to benefit others or in the interests of groups to which they belong. When such social motives are sufficiently strong, extreme self-sacrifice presents no special problem of explanation and does not require out-group threats.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 41 , 2018 , e197
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bacharach, M. (1999) Interactive team reasoning: A contribution to the theory of co-operation. Research in Economics 53:117–47. doi: 10.1006/reec.1999.0188.Google Scholar
Balliet, D., Parks, C. & Joireman, J. (2009) Social value orientation and cooperation in social dilemmas: A meta-analysis. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 12:533–47. doi: 10.1177/1368430209105040.Google Scholar
Bardsley, N., Mehta, J., Starmer, C. & Sugden, R. (2010) Explaining focal points: Cognitive hierarchy theory versus team reasoning. Economic Journal 120:40–79. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02304.x.Google Scholar
Bardsley, N. & Ule, A. (2017) Focal points revisited: Team reasoning, the principle of insufficient reason and cognitive hierarchy theory. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 133:74–76. doi: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.10.004.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D. (2011) Altruism in humans. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D., Dyck, J. L., Brandt, J. R., Batson, J. G. & Powell, A. L. (1988) Five studies testing two new egoistic alternatives to the empathy–altruism hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55:52–77. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.55.1.52.Google Scholar
Batson, C. D. & Shaw, L. L. (1991) Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry 2:107–22. doi: 10.1207/s15327965pli0202_1.Google Scholar
Bogaert, S., Boone, C. & Declerck, C. (2008) Social value orientation and cooperation in social dilemmas: A review and conceptual model. British Journal of Social Psychology 47:453–80. doi: 10.1348/014466607X244970.Google Scholar
Butler, D. J. (2012) A choice for “me” or for “us”? Using we-reasoning to predict cooperation and coordination in games. Theory and Decision 73:53–76. doi: 10.1007/s11238-011-9270-7.Google Scholar
Colman, A. M. & Gold, N. (2017) Team reasoning: Solving the puzzle of coordination. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. Advance online publication. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-017-1399-0.Google Scholar
Colman, A. M., Pulford, B. D. & Lawrence, C. L. (2014) Explaining strategic coordination: Cognitive hierarchy theory, strong Stackelberg reasoning, and team reasoning. Decision 1:35–58. doi: 10.1037/dec0000001.Google Scholar
Colman, A. M., Pulford, B. D. & Rose, J. (2008) Collective rationality in interactive decisions: Evidence for team reasoning. Acta Psychologica 128:387–97. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2007.08.003.Google Scholar
May, J. (2011) Egoism, empathy, and self-other merging. Southern Journal of Philosophy 49:25–39. doi: 10.1111/j.2041-6962.2011.00055.x.Google Scholar
McClintock, C. G. (1972) Social motivation: A set of propositions. Behavioral Science 17:438–54. doi: 10.1002/bs.3830170505.Google Scholar
Messick, D. M. & McClintock, C. G. (1968) Motivational bases of choice in experimental games. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 4(1):1–25. doi: 10.1016/0022-1031(68)90046-2.Google Scholar
Murphy, R. O. & Ackermann, K. A. (2014) Social value orientation: Theoretical and measurement issues in the study of social preferences. Personality and Social Psychology Review 18:13–41. doi: 10.1177/1088868313501745.Google Scholar
Samuelson, P. A. (1993) Altruism as a problem involving group versus individual selection in economics and biology. American Economic Review 83:143–48. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2117655.Google Scholar
Slote, M. A. (1964) An empirical basis for psychological egoism. Journal of Philosophy 61:530–37. doi: 10.2307/2023495.Google Scholar
Sonne, J. W. H. & Gash, D. M. (2018) Psychopathy to altruism: Neurobiology of the selfish–selfless spectrum. Frontiers in Psychology 9:Article 575. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00575.Google Scholar
Sugden, R. (1993) Thinking as a team: Towards an explanation of nonselfish behavior. Social Philosophy and Policy 10:69–89. doi: 10.1017/S0265052500004027.Google Scholar
Weinberg, S. (1999, April) A designer universe? Paper presented at the Conference on Cosmic Design of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C. Available at: http://www.physlink.com/Education/essay_weinberg.cfm.Google Scholar