Parochial Altruism Research Articles

Effects of synchronous chanting and identity fusion on perceived ingroup formidability, outgroup threat, and parochial altruism among soccer fans

Effects of synchronous chanting and identity fusion on perceived ingroup formidability, outgroup threat, and parochial altruism among soccer fans

Perceived inequality and variability in the expression of parochial altruism.

It is commonly argued that humans have generalised predispositions for within-group favouritism and between-group animus (i.e. that humans are parochially altruistic), leading to higher levels of internal conflict in societies with greater diversity. Other research, however, has questioned both the ubiquity of parochial altruism and the role of diversity per se in causing social discord. Here, we use ethnographic, social network and experimental economic game data to explore this topic in two multi-ethnic Colombian communities. We examine the extent to which Afrocolombian and Emberá residents express parochial altruism, finding appreciable variability between communities, and across individuals within communities. When present, parochial altruism appears to be driven by divergent perceptions of group-based economic need, not group identity per se. Our results suggest that diversity may be less likely to cause social discord than past work has suggested, as long as group-based inequalities in wealth, well-being and representation - that can destabilise positive inter-group relationships - are minimised.

Social induction and the developmental trajectory of participation in intergroup conflict by vervet monkeys

We assess the proposition that intergroup conflict (IGC) in non-human primates offers a useful comparison for studies of human IGC and its links to parochial altruism and prosociality. That is, for non-linguistic animals, social network integration and maternal influence promote juvenile engagement in IGC and can serve as the initial grounding for sociocultural processes that drive human cooperation. Using longitudinal data from three cohorts of non-adult vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), we show that non-adults are sensitive to personal (age) and situational risk (participant numbers). The frequency and intensity of participation, although modulated by rank and temperament, both mirrors maternal participation and reflects non-adult centrality in the grooming network. The possibility of social induction is corroborated by the distribution of grooming during IGC, with non-adults being more likely to be groomed if they were female, higher-ranking and participants themselves. Mothers were more likely to groom younger offspring participants of either sex, whereas other adults targeted higher-ranking female participants. Although we caution against a facile alignment of these outcomes to human culturally mediated induction, there is merit in considering how the embodied act of participation and the resultant social give-and-take might serve as the basis for a unified comparative investigation of prosociality.

Biosocial effects of oxytocin in vertebrates: From hormonal reproductive functions to parochial altruism

Oxytocin is an ancient neuropeptide with a wide range of functions. Over hundreds of millions years of evolution, the functional role of oxytocin and its homologues expanded from initially providing effective reproduction to consolidating partner relationships in monogamous species, family groups of cooperatively breeding species and diverse complex relationships within social groups characterized by parochial altruism traits. In different classes of vertebrates, the expansion of the scope of oxytocin actions could evolve independently, and today the most complete spectrum of functional effects of oxytocin is studied in mammals. The review gives a brief analysis of the functional role of oxytocin and its homologues in vertebrates based on modern research with an emphasis on its effects on social behavior.

Parochial Altruism in Civil Society Leaders: Legacies of Contested Governance

Parochial Altruism in Civil Society Leaders: Legacies of Contested Governance

Intranasal oxytocin interacts with testosterone reactivity to modulate parochial altruism

The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin and the steroid hormone testosterone have received attention as modulators of behavior in the context of intergroup conflict. However, to date, their interactive effect has yet to be tested. Here, in a double-blind placebo-control design, 204 participants (102 female participants) self-administrated oxytocin or placebo and completed an experimental economic game modeling intergroup conflict. Salivary testosterone (n = 192) was measured throughout the task to assess endogenous reactivity. As a caveat, even at this sample size, our derived power to detect small effects for 2- and 3-way interactions was relatively low. For male participants, changes in testosterone predicted willingness to sacrifice investments for the betterment of the group. Intranasal administration of oxytocin strongly diminished this effect. In female participants, we found no credible evidence for association between changes in testosterone and investments, rather, oxytocin effects were independent of testosterone. This 3-way interaction was of medium to large effect size (Odds Ratio 5.11). Behavior was also affected by social cues such as signaling of ingroup and outgroup members. Our findings provide insights as to the biological processes underpinning parochial altruism and suggest an additional path for the dual influence of oxytocin and testosterone on human social behavior.

Moral Foundations of Legal Communication

The article is founded on the position that social communication as an evolutionary option for the development of communication of all living beings must also include legal communication. In this existential context, legal communication is not reduced only to the transfer of symbolic (textual) information determining the behavior of subjects of law. It is also considered as a vital option for adapting to the environment, which allows both individuals and society to survive, develop and self-realize. Legal communication involves not just cooperation and interaction between legal subjects, but also the observance of the necessary conditions for the implicit and explicit goals of legal communication to be achieved and realized. Implicit (universal, transcendental, evolutionarily necessary) goals are reflected at the sociobiological level in the reciprocal altruism (ego-altruism) of communicants, at the philosophical (rational) level — in the principle of mutual legal and moral recognition, at the religious level — in the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself.” The authors reveal the connection between these concepts and the concept of communication by J. Habermas and the principle of mutual recognition by A. Honneth, on the one hand, and the idea of intuitive law by L.I. Petrażycki and the ideal of “free all-unity” by P.I. Novgorodtsev, on the other hand. It is shown that the findings of these scholars lie at the heart of the communicative theory of law and are supported by neuroscience data. According to the position put forward in this research, the rejection of mutual recognition inevitably entails the assertion of parochial altruism, the ideology of tribalism, the ideological justification of authoritarianism, violence as a universal political method, the neglect of human rights and, as a result, the deformation and destruction of legal communication.

The Impact of War Exposure on Morality: Evidence From the Battle of Mosul

The Battle of Mosul (2016–2017) was one of the most grueling urban warfare campaigns in recent memory. The fighting quickly concentrated in West Mosul, where civilians prevented by the Islamic State from leaving their homes experienced airstrikes and indiscriminate shelling by government forces. Utilizing the as-if-randomness of severe damage or destruction of people’s homes, this paper examines the impact of war exposure on the endorsement of moral foundations among a large and diverse sample of Mosul residents ( N = 1027). Home damage increased binding morality but had a larger impact on individualizing morality, heightening concerns about fairness and protection from harm. A survey experiment in which the sectarian identity of the target was randomly assigned further revealed a strong association between individualizing morality and parochial altruism. Challenging conventional wisdom, both individualizing and binding morality reinforce group cohesion in ways that are functionally adaptive and responsive to the damage wrought by war.

Malevolent Creativity as Parochial Altruism? Examining the Intergroup Bases of New and Harmful Ideas

ABSTRACT Emerging theory and evidence suggest that intergroup relations may stimulate malevolent creativity, but the intergroup foundations of malevolent creativity remain unexplored. Drawing from theories of intergroup conflict, we argue that malevolent creativity can be understood through the lens of parochial altruism, one’s willingness to partake in personally risky activity to harm outgroups (i.e. parochialism) in favor of an ingroup (i.e. altruism). Accordingly, malevolent creativity can be viewed as the willful generation and consideration of novel ideas for oneself to enact harm on an outgroup on behalf of an ingroup. Many instances of parochial altruism such as war or terrorism begin from strong sentiments of ingroup love and become more likely when paired with reasons to aggress against an outgroup. Extending this logic to malevolent creativity, we contend that ingroup affinity predicts malevolent creativity and that this relation grows stronger when people hold hostile attitudes toward the outgroup––or, in the absence of hostility, are directly provoked by outgroup members. We test our propositions in a sample of 307 undergraduate students and find partial support for our predictions.

Intimate but not intimate: The perils of workplace romance in fostering knowledge sabotage.

Extant research on workplace ostracism has investigated a victimization perspective to understand ostracism at the cost of examining the perpetrator-centric view of ostracism. The current study draws on the self-categorization theory and the social exchange theory to investigate the harmful effects of workplace romance in cultivating workplace ostracism from the perpetrator's perspective to combat concerns for victim blaming. The study further proposes that workplace ostracism triggered by workplace romance provokes knowledge sabotage. Besides, the study investigates the moderating role of parochial altruism in the underlying linkages. The study utilizes a multisource, time-lagged research design to collect data from employees working in service sector organizations in Pakistan. The study analyzes 343 responses using SmartPLS (v 4.0). The findings of this study reveal that workplace romance elicits workplace ostracism, which, in turn, fosters knowledge sabotage. In addition, the study finds that parochial altruism strengthens the associations between (a) workplace romance and workplace ostracism and (b) workplace romance and knowledge sabotage, mediated by workplace ostracism such that the associations are more potent at higher levels of parochial altruism and vice versa. This is the first study that examines workplace romance as the perpetrator-centric antecedent of workplace ostracism, and parochial altruism exaggerates outgroup ostracism and knowledge sabotage.

Pro-social risk-taking and intergroup conflict: A volunteer's dilemma experiment

Pro-social risk-taking and intergroup conflict: A volunteer's dilemma experiment

Egoism and Altruism in Intergroup Conflict

Studies have shown that intergroup conflict may result from two distinct human motives: the desire to obtain personal retributions from conflict ( egoism), and the desire to sacrifice for the benefit of the ingroup ( parochial altruism). Yet, the relative strength of these motives is open to debate. In this study, we compare behaviors in two Intergroup Prisoner’s Dilemmas (IPD), which respectively capture altruistic and egoistic motives to generate conflict. Egoistic motives result in about 40% more conflict than altruistic motives. Yet, parochial altruism generates more conflict when three conditions are gathered: i) other ingroup members are parochial altruists, ii) the outgroup is aggressive and iii) the outgroup is rich. Implications regarding the diverging structural causes of terrorism and civil wars are discussed.

Wartime forced sex as a male mating strategy.

The aim of this study was an analytical justification of the emergence and presence of the phenomenon of war among hominins, taking into account males' genetic benefits gained through war in the natural environment. Based on chimpanzee behavior, the analytical model of the primary warrior balance was explored, comparing the risk of a war expedition with the genetic profits from war rape-"life and death balance". On the profits side, genetic gains possible to obtain in terms of permanent attractiveness of females (warrior status and abductions of females) were also included. Kin cooperation, parochial altruism, and "partisan strategy" have been defined as psychological mechanisms that enable effective group violence. Male genetic benefit from a war rape could exceed the risk of a warrior's death in the chimpanzee-human LCA species; transition from the herd to the patriarchal tribal social system could increase warrior's genetic gains from war. At the root of war lie sexual limitations of cooperating males, induced by female sexual preferences and lack of the permanent female sexual drive. War rape allows reproductive success for dominated and thus sexually restricted males. Tendencies for group aggression to gain access to out-group females (the war gene) are common among sexually restricted men. Resource-rich areas favor increase in human population density, this affects group territoriality and promotes intergroup conflicts, and thus patriarchy. Roots of conventional patriarchal marriage are strongly combined with war-"the right to land entails the right to a female".

Избранные вопросы антропологии: парохиальный альтруизм, ассортативное спаривание и антропогенез

В статье рассматривается ряд вопросов, связанных с эволюцией и биологией поведения человека. В свете синтеза теорий антропогенеза Клода Оуэна Лавджоя и Сэмюэля Боулза в качестве одного из ключевых вопросов антропологии выделяется неустойчивое динамическое равновесие между парохиально-альтруистическими стратегиями репродуктивного успеха, толкающими человечество к разделению на репродуктивно замкнутые, изолированные и генетически однородные внутри себя суперорганизмы, и эгоистическими стратегиями, ограничивающими развитие эусоциальности и способствующими социальной атомизации, размыванию границ между сообществами и межпопуляционному генетическому смешению. Особое внимание в статье уделяется важному фактору, «играющему на стороне» парохиального альтруизма - репродуктивной и социальной ассортативности, то есть стремлению к формированию семейных и дружеских пар с генетическими родственниками. В заключение отмечаются факторы, которые могут оказывать существенное влияние на направление дальнейшей продолжающейся биологической эволюции человека как вида. The article deals with a number of issues related to the evolution and biology of human behavior. In the light of the synthesis of the theories of anthropogenesis by Claude Owen Lovejoy and Samuel Bowles, one of the key issues of anthropology is an unstable dynamic balance between the parochial-altruistic strategies of reproductive success, pushing humanity to division into reproductively closed, isolated and genetically homogeneous superorganisms, and egoistic strategies, limiting the development of eusociality and contributing to social atomization, blurring of boundaries between communities and interpopulation genetic mixing. Particular attention is paid to an important factor that "plays on the side" of parochial altruism reproductive and social assortativeness, that is, the desire to form family and friendly couples with genetic relatives. In conclusion, factors are noted that can have a significant impact on the direction of further ongoing biological evolution of man as a species.

The Impact of Positivity and Parochial Altruism on Protective Behaviours during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy

Implementation of COVID-19 protective behaviours, such as social distancing or frequent hand washing during the lockdown, was critical to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the effect of positivity and parochial altruism on implementing COVID-19 health-protective behaviours during the Italian lockdown. A sample of 460 participants completed an online questionnaire that included demographic measures, Positivity Scale and COVID-19 measures of health-protective behaviours. To measure parochial altruism, we used a hypothetical dictator game played with others who could vary in their social distance from the participants. Results showed that participants in the hypothetical game gave more money to parents and siblings than to best friends, cousins, neighbours, and strangers. Furthermore, both positivity and parochial altruism (more altruism toward close vs. distant people) were positively associated with implementing hygiene behaviours but not with social distancing. Finally, mediation analysis showed that increases in parochial altruism mediated the effect of positivity on hygiene behaviour. These findings extend knowledge about the factors beyond the implementation of COVID-19 health-protective behaviours during a lockdown situation.

Parochial Altruism and Political Ideology

Parochial altruism refers to the propensity to direct prosocial behavior toward members of one's own ingroup to a greater extent than toward those outside one's group. Both theory and empirical research suggest that parochialism may be linked to political ideology, with conservatives more likely than liberals to exhibit ingroup bias in altruistic behavior. The present study, conducted in the United States and Italy, tested this relationship in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic, assessing willingness to contribute money to charities at different levels of inclusiveness—local versus national versus international. Results indicated that conservatives contributed less money overall and were more likely to limit their contribution to the local charity while liberals were significantly more likely to contribute to national and international charities, exhibiting less parochialism. Conservatives and liberals also differed in social identification and trust, with conservatives higher in social identity and trust at the local and national levels and liberals higher in global social identity and trust in global others. Differences in global social identity partially accounted for the effects of political ideology on donations.

Ethical Solutions to the Problem of Organ Shortage.

Organ shortage is a major survival issue for millions of people worldwide. Globally 1.2 million people die each yearfrom kidney failure. In this paper, we critically examine and find lackingextant proposals forincreasing organ supply, such as opting in and opt out fordeceased donor organs, and parochial altruism and paired kidney exchange forlive organs. We defend two ethical solutionsto the problem of organ shortage.One is to make deceased donor organs automatically available for transplantwithout requiring consent from the donor or their relatives. The other isforsociety to buy nonvital organs in a strictly regulated market and provide themto people in need for free.

The impact of distance on parochial altruism: An experimental investigation

The impact of distance on parochial altruism: An experimental investigation

Parochial cooperation in wild chimpanzees: a model to explain the evolution of parochial altruism.

Parochial altruism, taking individual costs to benefit the in-group and harm the out-group, has been proposed as one of the mechanisms underlying the human ability of large-scale cooperation. How parochial altruism has evolved remains unclear. In this review paper, we formulate a parochial cooperation model in small-scale groups and examine the model in wild chimpanzees. As suggested for human parochial altruism, we review evidence that the oxytocinergic system and in-group cooperation and cohesion during out-group threat are integral parts of chimpanzee collective action during intergroup competition. We expand this model by suggesting that chimpanzee parochial cooperation is supported by the social structure of chimpanzee groups which enables repeated interaction history and established social ties between co-operators. We discuss in detail the role of the oxytocinergic system in supporting parochial cooperation, a pathway that appears integral already in chimpanzees. The reviewed evidence suggests that prerequisites of human parochial altruism were probably present in the last common ancestor between Pan and Homo.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Intergroup conflict across taxa’.

Null results for the steal-framing effect on out-group aggression

Whether intergroup conflict is a necessary condition for the evolution of human prosociality has been a matter of debate. At the center of the debate is the coevolutionary model of parochial altruism—that human cooperation with in-group members has coevolved with aggression toward out-group members. Studies using the intergroup prisoner’s dilemma–maximizing difference game to test the model have repeatedly shown that people do not exhibit out-group aggression, possibly because of an inappropriate operationalization and framing of out-group aggression. The coevolutionary model predicts out-group aggression when the actor understands that it will lead to the in-group’s benefit. However, in the game, such an aspect of out-group aggression that benefits the in-group is typically not well communicated to participants. Thus, this study tested the hypothesis that out-group aggression in the game would be promoted by a framing that emphasizes that attacking out-group members enhances the in-group’s gain. Results of two laboratory experiments with 176 Japanese university students in total showed that such a framing did not promote out-group aggression and individuals invested more money to cooperate with in-group members only, avoiding the strategy of cooperating with in-group members to harm out-group members. These results do not support the coevolutionary model.