Abstract
The idea that cooperative groups out-compete less cooperative groups has been proposed as a theoretical possibility for the evolution of cooperation through cultural group selection. Previous studies have found an association between increased cooperation and exposure to inter-group violence, but most have not been able to identify the specific target of cooperation and are based on correlational data making it difficult to establish causality. In this study we test the hypothesis that inter-group conflict promotes parochial altruism (i.e., in-group altruism and out-group hostility) by using longitudinal data of a real-world measure of cooperation—charity and school donations—sampled before, during and after violent sectarian riots between Catholics and Protestants in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We find that conflict is associated with reductions in all types of cooperation, with reduced donations to a neutral charity, and both in-group and out-group primary schools. After the conflict, both in-group and out-group donations increased again. In this context we find no evidence that inter-group conflict promotes parochial altruism.
Highlights
Inter-group competition is often put forward as a prominent factor in the evolution of cooperation (Boorman and Levitt, 1973; Choi and Bowles, 2007; Bowles, 2009)
Inter-group conflict promotes the co-evolution of in-group altruism and out-group hostility, which leads to the logical inference that in situations of conflict levels of in-group altruism should be negatively associated with levels of out-group altruism (Arrow, 2007; Choi and Bowles, 2007)
When looking at the different types of donations, we find that in-group donations suffered the most during the riots, with £1.23 less being given to in-group primary schools during the riots compared to before the riots (β = −1.23 [−2.58; 0.11], p < 0.1; Table S4 and Figure 2)
Summary
Inter-group competition is often put forward as a prominent factor in the evolution of cooperation (Boorman and Levitt, 1973; Choi and Bowles, 2007; Bowles, 2009). Cultural group traits that provide an advantage to groups in conflict, such as altruism, will proliferate at the expense of other cultural traits that do not, eventually leading to group extinction through conquest and assimilation (Henrich, 2004) In these theoretical models of the evolution of cooperation through inter-group conflict, biased altruism toward the in-group co-evolves alongside out-group hostility—in what is termed parochial altruism—as a way of groups maximizing their payoffs (Bowles et al, 2003; Choi and Bowles, 2007; García and van den Bergh, 2011). Inter-group conflict promotes the co-evolution of in-group altruism and out-group hostility, which leads to the logical inference that in situations of conflict levels of in-group altruism should be negatively associated with levels of out-group altruism (Arrow, 2007; Choi and Bowles, 2007).
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