The altruistic punishment is proposed as an important mechanism for the existence of social norms. The motives for punishing altruistically, however, are not entirely altruistic from the individual perspective. In addition to maintaining the principle of fairness, the pursuit of a good reputation, the aversion of potential losses, or the elimination of negative emotions also drive, to varying degrees, altruistic punishment. In addition, the sensitivity to the amount and form of sanction costs also shows that strategic motivations based on the cost-benefit principle play a significant role in driving altruistic punishment. Further exploration of the interaction between different motivations in the implementation of altruistic punishment is an important issue that deserves more attention in the future research.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.