How do we decide when (not) to free-ride? Risk tolerance predicts behavioral plasticity in cooperation

This study addresses human cooperation under such marginally diminishing group productivity, focusing on the plasticity of cooperative choices. We conducted a two-part “team foraging” experiment, in which the most- or least-cooperative members in the first part were re-grouped separately for the second part. We observed that cooperating and defecting “types” emerged within a group over time but did not completely persist across groups, with some of the most cooperative members switching to become the least cooperative (and vice versa). Risk attitude was a key factor in this switching behavior: greater risk-takers showed greater behavioral plasticity. These results imply that human cooperation may be more context-dependent and behaviorally plastic than previously thought.

Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - August 8, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research