Free to choose: Mutualist motives for partner choice, proportional division, punishment, and help

Abstract

Mutualism–the disposition to cooperate in ways that benefit both actor and recipient–has been proposed as a key construct in the evolution of cooperation, with distinct adaptations for 1) partner choice, 2) division, 3) punishment, and 4) helping. However, no psychological validation of this 4-fold psychological structure exists, and no measure of the trait is available. To fill this need, in two pre-registered studies (total N = 902), we: (A) Develop and administer items assessing each of the four mutualist adaptations; (B) Show good fit to the predicted four factor model; (C) Demonstrate reliability and stability across time; (D) Evidence discriminant validity from existing constructs, including compassion and utilitarianism; (E) Establish external validity by predicting proportional choices in catch division, opposition to partner coercion, and reduced support for redistribution; and (F) Replicate each of these findings. Jointly, these results support the validity of mutualism, including a motive to maintain the freedom to choose, and provide reliable scales for use in integrating, further developing, and applying mutualism.

Moral Foundations Theory: Validation and Replication of the MFQ-2

“…This new model of the MFQ-2 has several implications for moral foundations theory and suggests additional directions for research. For instance, exploring the links between Proportionality foundation and related constructs such as mutualism (Baumard, Andre, & Sperber, 2013;Lin & Bates, 2022), research to understand the apparent substructure of Loyalty, as well as work on the genetic basis of these traits Note. Omega total coefficients represent the reliability of moral foundations in the re-test data.…”