Van Lange et al. (2022) - Human cooperation and the crises of climate change, COVID-19, and misinformation

Question 1

Commonality between climate change, COVID-19, and misinformation

Answer 1

All create conflict within individuals between short-term self-interest and long-term collective interest

Question 2

Social dilemma definition

Answer 2

When a noncooperative course of action for an individual is tempting because of short-term outcomes for the self, but it may cause the collective to be worse-off in the long-term.

Question 3

5 Mechanisms needed for cooperation

Answer 3

1. Kin selection (cooperative people survive, and therefore the cooperative gene survives)
2. Spatial selection (cooperators are likely to receive survival benefits from other cooperators in similar networks, resulting in the survival of cooperative individuals)
3. Group selection (cooperators outcompete defectors in the long term)
4. Direct reciprocity (due to within-relationship repeated interaction, individuals help each other reciprocially due to reputation)
5. Reputation (good reputation leads to more (future) cooperative partners, increasing survival)

Question 4

Reputation and cooperation

Answer 4

Reputation may be most significant factor in cooperation. Conditional reputation > you do something for me, I do something for you. Costly signalling > it is more credible when cooperation is significantly costly to individuals.