Reply to van Hoorn: Converging lines of evidence

Abstract

We agree with the comments by van Hoorn (1) on our critique (2): testing causal hypotheses about human behavior is a challenge (1, 3). Making progress requires specifying alternative hypotheses and then testing these hypotheses using diverse and converging lines of evidence. We have defended the hypothesis that social norms, which culturally coevolved with the institutions of large-scale societies including markets, influence economic decision-making. This hypothesis emerged from a larger set that we developed both at the outset of our project and as we went along. Our interdisciplinary team's initial list of hypotheses included the idea that experimental games might spark an innate reciprocity module that would yield little variation across populations. We also considered the hypothesis that group-level differences might result from individual differences in wealth or income. Nevertheless, what emerged in the data in our first project was (i) substantial variation among 15 populations, (ii) a strong correlation with market integration, and (iii) little relation to individual-level economic or demographic variables. Not satisfied with our first effort, we sampled 10 new populations, replicated these findings with improved protocols (developed based on critiques of the Phase I), and then extended them to two additional experimental games. Along the way, we have explored alternative hypotheses using measures of genetic relatedness, social network position, anonymity manipulations, and framing tools. To our knowledge, no other existing hypotheses can better account for the observed patterns of variation.Several independent lines of evidence converge to support our hypothesis. First, contrary to other accounts, our approach requires that people can readily acquire social behavior or motivations toward anonymous others through cultural learning. This finding is well-established experimentally for children. Experimental work shows that observing a model behaving altruistically in a novel situation leads children to behave more altruistically in the same context. This effect endures weeks later, remains when the child is alone, and is spontaneously enforced by subjects on novices (reviewed in ref. 4). Consistent with this finding, evidence indicates that the prosociality measured in economic games develops slowly over the first three decades of life, not hitting the adult plateau until the mid-20s (4).Our approach also predicts that norms should be contextspecific, and thus, how context matters will often vary among communities with the local norms. Several studies find that context (or framing) not only matters but matters in different ways in different places (3). Our analyses and use of framing techniques confirm this finding in diverse societies (5). Moreover, work using priming tools has already begun to confirm and explore the link between markets (priming markets) and prosocial economic choices (6).Finally, studies of migration underline the importance of nongenetic inheritance by showing that the average behavi...

Being there: a brief visit to a neighbourhood induces the social attitudes of that neighbourhood

“…The social attitudes found in particular populations are generally thought of as culturally transmitted ( Henrich et al, 2012a ; Henrich et al, 2012b ; Henrich et al, 2010 ; Uslaner, 2002 ). Cultural transmission has been conceptualized as a Darwinian evolutionary process, with the most important change arising through processes analogous to mutation and natural selection ( Mesoudi, Whiten & Laland, 2006 , though see Claidière & André, 2012 ).…”

“…Alternatively or additionally, psychological mechanisms might respond to particular classes of subtle behavioural or physical cues that have, over evolutionary time, been reliably associated with social environments in which particular social behaviours are adaptive. Correlational studies are in general limited in their potential to be able to address these kinds of issues (see Henrich et al, 2012b ; van Hoorn, 2012 , for recent discussion).…”

Is Context the Key? The (Non-)Differential Effects of Mediated Incivility in Three European Countries

“…It would thus be worthwhile to consider collectivist countries, where direct conflict, maybe even without clear characteristics of incivility, could be perceived as a violation of norms. A further explanation for the absence of cultural differences is the notion that social norms are "context specific" (Henrich et al, 2012). While the context of politicians in the media, i.e., elite political discourse, does not vary in our case, it is not possible to rule out the possibility that in another context, e.g., interpersonal communication, incivility is perceived totally different and differences in social norms play a crucial role.…”

Peer Review #1 of "Being there: a brief visit to a neighbourhood induces the social attitudes of that neighbourhood (v0.1)"

“…The social attitudes found in particular populations are generally thought of as culturally transmitted (Henrich et al 2012a;Henrich et al 2012b;Henrich et al 2010;Uslaner 2002). Cultural transmission has been conceptualized as a Darwinian evolutionary process, with the most important change arising through processes analogous to mutation and natural selection (Mesoudi, 2006, though see Claidiere & André 2012.…”

“…Alternatively or additionally, psychological mechanisms might respond to particular classes of subtle behavioural or physical cues that have, over evolutionary time, been reliably associated with social environments in which particular social behaviours are adaptive. Correlational studies are in general limited in their potential to be able to address these kinds of issues (see Henrich et al 2012b; van Hoorn 2012, for recent discussion).…”