| 1. |
- Pick, C. M., et al.
(författare)
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Family still matters : Human social motivation across 42 countries during a global pandemic
- 2022
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Ingår i: Evolution and human behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 1090-5138 .- 1879-0607. ; 43:6, s. 527-535
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused drastic social changes for many people, including separation from friends and coworkers, enforced close contact with family, and reductions in mobility. Here we assess the extent to which people's evolutionarily-relevant basic motivations and goals—fundamental social motives such as Affiliation and Kin Care—might have been affected. To address this question, we gathered data on fundamental social motives in 42 countries (N = 15,915) across two waves, including 19 countries (N = 10,907) for which data were gathered both before and during the pandemic (pre-pandemic wave: 32 countries, N = 8998; 3302 male, 5585 female; Mage = 24.43, SD = 7.91; mid-pandemic wave: 29 countries, N = 6917; 2249 male, 4218 female; Mage = 28.59, SD = 11.31). Samples include data collected online (e.g., Prolific, MTurk), at universities, and via community sampling. We found that Disease Avoidance motivation was substantially higher during the pandemic, and that most of the other fundamental social motives showed small, yet significant, differences across waves. Most sensibly, concern with caring for one's children was higher during the pandemic, and concerns with Mate Seeking and Status were lower. Earlier findings showing the prioritization of family motives over mating motives (and even over Disease Avoidance motives) were replicated during the pandemic. Finally, well-being remained positively associated with family-related motives and negatively associated with mating motives during the pandemic, as in the pre-pandemic samples. Our results provide further evidence for the robust primacy of family-related motivations even during this unique disruption of social life.
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| 2. |
- Pick, Cari M., et al.
(författare)
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Fundamental social motives measured across forty-two cultures in two waves
- 2022
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Ingår i: Scientific Data. - : Springer Nature. - 2052-4463. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How does psychology vary across human societies? The fundamental social motives framework adopts an evolutionary approach to capture the broad range of human social goals within a taxonomy of ancestrally recurring threats and opportunities. These motives-self-protection, disease avoidance, affiliation, status, mate acquisition, mate retention, and kin care-are high in fitness relevance and everyday salience, yet understudied cross-culturally. Here, we gathered data on these motives in 42 countries (N = 15,915) in two cross-sectional waves, including 19 countries (N = 10,907) for which data were gathered in both waves. Wave 1 was collected from mid-2016 through late 2019 (32 countries, N = 8,998; 3,302 male, 5,585 female; M-age = 24.43, SD = 7.91). Wave 2 was collected from April through November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic (29 countries, N = 6,917; 2,249 male, 4,218 female; M-age = 28.59, SD = 11.31). These data can be used to assess differences and similarities in people's fundamental social motives both across and within cultures, at different time points, and in relation to other commonly studied cultural indicators and outcomes.
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| 3. |
- Hall, Jonathan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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The Impact of War Exposure on Morality : Evidence From the Battle of Mosul
- 2023
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Ingår i: Journal of Conflict Resolution. - : Sage Publications. - 0022-0027 .- 1552-8766.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 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.
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| 4. |
- Hall, Jonathan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Uncovering sophisticated discrimination with the help of credence goods markups : evidence from a natural field experiment
- 2019
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We present the results of a pre-registered natural field experiment designed to uncover a sophisticated form of discrimination against an immigrant minority in a market for credence goods. For this purpose, we introduce two markups: (i) the credence goods markup defined as the difference between the price paid by the same person for an ordinary service and an otherwise equivalent credence goods service; and (ii) the dis- criminatory markup defined as the difference between the price paid by a member of an immigrant minority group and the price paid by a member of the majority group for the same kind of service. We document the existence of a large credence goods markup of about 40%, on average. Moreover, we find a sizeable discriminatory markup for the cre- dence goods service but no discriminatory markup for the ordinary service. The results of an ex-post survey suggest that this sophisticated form of discrimination is mainly due to the prejudicial behavior of sellers belonging to an established local ethnic minority group towards buyers belonging to a low-status immigrant ethnic minority group.
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| 5. |
- Hall, Jonathan, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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War exposure, altruism and the recalibration of welfare tradeoffs towards threatening social categories
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-1031 .- 1096-0465. ; 94
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How does war shape human altruism? Some find warfare increases generosity within groups only. Others maintain that war’s prosocial effects extend to outgroup members as well. To make sense of these disparate findings, we offer a theoretical framework that highlights the role of threat sensitivity in altruism. Refugees from Syria and Iraq (N = 1521) completed a welfare tradeoff task and threat perceptions scale where the other's group identity, gender and age were experimentally varied. We found that individuals belonging to social categories associated with more threat (outgroup members, males, and younger individuals) were afforded less altruism compared to individuals belonging to non-threatening social categories (ingroup members, females and the elderly). War exposure enhanced bias against threatening social categories through increased threat-sensitivity. Our results have implications for understanding how warfare shapes altruism and welfare tradeoffs in light of cross-cutting social categories and for policies promoting post-conflict cooperation.
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| 6. |
- Skoog, Eric, 1986-
(författare)
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Divide or Conquer? : Deep artionality and Seemingly Indivisible Issues as a Cause of Conflict
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Much of the literature on bargaining in conflict relies on rationality assumptions. This has been very useful for creating hypotheses and theoretical predictions about conflict behaviour. However, there are several puzzling phenomena which rational actor models have difficulties explaining, such as seemingly indivisible issues causing conflicts. While there should always be divisions that are preferable to costly fighting, apparent issue indivisibility preventing conflict resolution is a recurring empirical phenomenon. I argue that taking a “deep rationality” approach, considering the evolutionary foundations of prospect theory preferences, may help solve this puzzle. From this point of view, behavioural biases are not errors, but functional mechanisms for solving recurring adaptive problems. When survival threat and self-protection motivations are salient, preferences over risk and valuations would (i) cause conflict issues below the reference point to be strongly overvalued, and (ii) make gambles over them appear more attractive. This would take the overt form of issue indivisibility, preventing bargaining solutions from being reached. I illustrate my point in a bargaining model, showing that prospect theory preferences may result in behaviours that, to the outside observer, would look like issue indivisibility. I also suggest some conditions under which we may expect to observe this phenomenon.
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| 7. |
- Skoog, Eric, 1986-
(författare)
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Indirect reciprocity and tradeoff paradigms in the wake of violent intergroup conflict
- 2021
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Ingår i: Evolution and human behavior. - : Elsevier. - 1090-5138 .- 1879-0607. ; 42:3, s. 230-238
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intergroup interaction can be hindered by legacies of conflict and group biases. Many studies have looked at intergroup attitudes and pro-sociality in the wake of intergroup conflict, but few have explicitly studied how the group affiliation of another person affects the willingness to interact economically, especially when the interactions concern contested issues. In this study, I investigate the effect of group affiliation on the willingness to engage in economic interactions with others among individuals exposed to violent intergroup conflict, using a sample of refugees from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq. Based on the theory of indirect reciprocity, it is predicted that the tradeoff paradigms, that is, the willingness to engage in economic transactions with another individual, will depend on previous actions of other members of that individual's group. Participants tended to adopt a communal sharing tradeoff paradigm with ingroup members, and they tended to adopt a market pricing paradigm with outgroup members. However, this was the case only for those who reported that outgroup members had taken actions to harm them or their family in the conflict. For those who reported being harmed by members of the ingroup, a market pricing paradigm was employed also with ingroup members. The results suggest that group biases and indirect reciprocity after violent conflict do not necessarily arise from group identities alone, but as a function of past interactions with outgroup members.
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| 8. |
- Skoog, Eric, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Kindness in the aftermath of cruelty? : The effects of exposure to war-time trauma on altruism across social categories
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the civil war literature, while conflict exposure has been shown to increase altruism, this altruism is usually predicted to be biased towards ingroup members. In this paper, we take a new approach to the war and altruism debate, by looking at the effect of war-time exposure for social categorizations beyond the standard ingroup/outgroup distinction. Based on threat-management theory, we argue that pro-sociality relies on more nuanced social categorizations including sex and age, with conflict exposure exacerbating altruism towards non-threatening social categories, even in the outgroup. However, this effect will not extend to threatening social categories. In particular, we expect young outgroup males to be the least likely targets of altrusim. We run a field experiment with a sample of 802 refugees from the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq currently residing in Turkey, who perform a welfare tradeoff task. We show that levels of altruism generally follow the predictions from threat-management theory. Further, we show that the positive effects of exposure on altruism can extend also to outgroups, but only to non-threatening social categories. For the arguably most threatening category, outgroup young men, there is no altruism-enhancing effect of exposure to violence. Somewhat surprisingly, there is no increase in pro-sociality in the ingroup, and we discuss some possible explanations for this. These findings have important implications for interventions aimed at improving intergroup relations during conflict – such as reducing sectarian tensions in refugee communities - and in post-war settings.
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| 9. |
- Skoog, Eric, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Kindness in the aftermath of cruelty? : The effects of exposure to war-time trauma on altruism across social categories
-
Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the civil war literature, while conflict exposure has been shown to increase altruism, this altruism is usually predicted to be biased towards ingroup members. In this paper, we take a new approach to the war and altruism debate, by looking at the effect of war-time exposure for social categorizations beyond the standard ingroup/outgroup distinction. Based on threat-management theory, we argue that pro-sociality relies on more nuanced social categorizations including sex and age, with conflict exposure exacerbating altruism towards non-threatening social categories, even in the outgroup. However, this effect will not extend to threatening social categories. In particular, we expect young outgroup males to be the least likely targets of altrusim. We run a field experiment with a sample of 802 refugees from the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq currently residing in Turkey, who perform a welfare tradeoff task. We show that levels of altruism generally follow the predictions from threat-management theory. Further, we show that the positive effects of exposure on altruism can extend also to outgroups, but only to non-threatening social categories. For the arguably most threatening category, outgroup young men, there is no altruism-enhancing effect of exposure to violence. Somewhat surprisingly, there is no increase in pro-sociality in the ingroup, and we discuss some possible explanations for this. These findings have important implications for interventions aimed at improving intergroup relations during conflict – such as reducing sectarian tensions in refugee communities - and in post-war settings.
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| 10. |
- Skoog, Eric, 1986-
(författare)
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Preferences Under Pressure : Conflict, Threat Cues and Willingness to Compromise
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Understanding how preferences are formed is a key question in the social sciences. The ability of agents to interact with each other is a prerequisite for well-functioning societies. Nevertheless, the process whereby the preferences of agents in conflict are formed have often been black boxed, and the literature on the effects of armed conflict on individuals reveals a great variation in terms of outcomes. Sometimes, individuals are willing to cooperate and interact even with former enemies, while sometimes, we see outright refusal to cooperate or interact at all. In this dissertation, I look at the role of threat in driving some of these divergent results. Armed conflict is rife with physical threats to life, limb and property, and there has been much research pointing to the impact of threat on preferences, attitudes and behavior. Research in the field of evolutionary psychology has revealed that threat is not a singular category, but a nuanced phenomenon, where different types of threat may lead to different responses. I argue that by taking a more nuanced approach to threat, drawing on theories from the field of evolutionary psychology, some of the variance in outcomes can be explained. In particular, some commonly observed features of protracted conflicts, such as seemingly indivisible issues and parochialism may be moderated by threat. In the four essays, I address this from both a theoretical and empirical point of view. In Essay I, I illustrate in a formal bargaining setting how threats can lead actors to prefer risky all-or-nothing gambles to division schemes, preventing bargaining solutions to be found. In the second essay (Essay II), I show that willingness to make compromises with members of other groups are not contingent on group affiliation alone, but rather on the expected reciprocity of that group. Furthermore, characteristics of others beyond group can also affect pro-sociality. Based on a threat management perspective, me and my coauthors in Essay III show that non-threatening social categories, such as women or the elderly, are shown higher levels of altruism, also when there individuals are outgroup members. Exposure to violence can even increase altruism across group lines, but only to these non-threatening groups. Finally, in Essay IV, I show that those who experience post-traumatic growth as a result of traumatic events reverse the standard loss aversion people generally display, even showing gain-seeking preferences. Together, these results point to the importance of bringing in a more nuanced conceptualization of the role of threat in the study of peace and conflict. Even in the most brutal and destructive conflicts, humans are able to cooperate, also across group lines. However, for this cooperation to function, managing the threats in conflict is of central importance.
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