The Evolution of Guilt: A Model-Based Approach

Abstract

, and various conference and colloquium audiences for comments on this work. Special thanks to Michael Deem and Grant Ramsey for their continued feedback and the original inspiration.

When It’s Good to Feel Bad: An Evolutionary Model of Guilt and Apology

“…can conclude that emotion Z should come under positive selection pressure in Y as well (O'Connor, 2016).…”

“…(Note also that since guilt plays a role in other prosocial behaviors, it is available for co-option to solve the retribution problem.) combine elements of costly and unfakeable apology (O'Connor, 2016). (In the next section, we will explain at length why this is so.)…”

“…Inasmuch as emotions in humans are causally connected to behaviors, however, we can use these models to gain insight into what functional role emotions might play. If we see a behavior X selected for in environment Y , and we know that emotion Z causes that behavior in humans, we can conclude that emotion Z should come under positive selection pressure in Y as well (O’Connor, 2016 ).…”

“…If we find, in evolutionary models, that these sorts of behaviors provide selective advantages to individuals, we identify a situation in which guilt can provide a selective advantage as well. O’Connor ( 2016 ) identifies three sets of evolutionary game theoretic results that can inform the evolution of guilt. Before continuing to our work on guilty apology, we will give a quick overview of these results.…”

“…Actors who apologize, and accept the apologies of group members, can gain thus an advantage in such conditions. 6 These apologies can work if they are costly (Okamoto and Matsumura, 2000 ; Ohtsubo and Watanabe, 2009 ; Ho, 2012 ; Han et al, 2013 ; Martinez-Vaquero et al, 2015 ; Lenaerts et al, 2017 ), if they are unfakeable, or if they combine elements of costly and unfakeable apology (O’Connor, 2016 ). (In the next section, we will explain at length why this is so.)…”