Eager for fairness or revenge: psychological altruism in economics

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_629D1A5CC3B3
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Eager for fairness or revenge: psychological altruism in economics
Journal
Economics and Philosophy
Author(s)
Clavien C., Klein R.A.
ISSN
0266-2671
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2010
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
26
Number
3
Pages
267-290
Language
english
Abstract
To understand the human capacity for psychological altruism, one requires a proper understanding of how people actually think and feel. This paper addresses the possible relevance of recent findings in experimental economics and neuroeconomics to the philosophical controversy over altruism and egoism. After briefly sketching and contextualizing the controversy, we survey and discuss the results of various studies on behaviourally altruistic helping and punishing behaviour, which provide stimulating clues for the debate over psychological altruism. On closer analysis, these studies prove less relevant than originally expected because the data obtained admit competing interpretations such as people seeking fairness versus people seeking revenge. However, this mitigated conclusion does not preclude the possibility of more fruitful research in the area in the future. Throughout our analysis, we provide hints for the direction of future research on the question.
Keywords
altruism, dictator games, neural basis, human cooperation, motivation, help, ultimatum game, punishment, evolution, behavior, reciprocity, revenge, experimental economics
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Create date
13/01/2011 18:15
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:19
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