The evolution of collective action: the role of co-evolving groups

Prof. dr. R. Koopmans

Results 2006

The project has been running for less than a year. The two PhD researchers have followed a number of courses (Garcia: Cooperative and Strategic Decision making, Econometrics, and Behavioral Economics; Rebers: Logic of social science explanations, succesvol promoveren en persoonlijke effectiviteit, The process of writing a PhD, Sommerschule Evolutionäre Anthropologie in Delmenhorst). Both have written a review paper of relevant literature: Garcia and Van den Bergh have compiled an exhaustive survey of existing models of group selection and have constructed a theoretical framework, which includes all known possible mechanisms of group selection. Garcia has moreover made a concept structure of his dissertation, which consists of eight chapters. Current work focuses on the development of a model of “evolution of parochialism”. In this context, attention is paid particularly to the problem that group selection models tend to insufficiently appreciate inter-group interactions. From experiments we know that the behaviour of group members towards their own group can differ from that towards outgroup members. The model to be developed aims to throw light on the conditions under which parochialism can lead to “group- level
adaptations”. Koopmans has elaborated a number of theoretical ideas relevant for the project in his inaugural lecture, a revised version of which has been published in the journal Sociologie. Rebers’ review paper gives an overview of evolutionary theories that are relevant to understanding collective action, both based on genetic evolution (e.g., kin selection, direct and indirect reciprocity, and sexual selection), and on cultural evolution (e.g., cultural group selection, theories of cultural transmission such as that of Boyd en Richerson, as well as theoretical ideas about cultural-evolutionary extensions of the concept of inclusive fitness). The paper also served as the basis for the internal assessment of the progress of Rebers’ PhD-project, for which two external reviewers (biologist Simon Reader of the
University of Utrecht and social psychologist Paul van Lange of the VU) gave their judgment, which in both cases turned out very positively. Rebers has further drawn up a plan for the first phase of the experiments, which will start in February 2007.