Evolution and Cooperation

Stiff, C. E., & Van Vugt, M. (2008). The power of reputations: The role of third party information in the admission of new group members. Group Dynamics, 12, 155-166.  Download Abstract: Two experiments investigated whether groups use reputational information to recruit new members. The authors manipulated the candidate’s reported self-sacrifices to enter the group and the source of...

Van Vugt, M., Roberts, G., & Hardy, C. (2007). Competitive altruism: Development of reputation-based cooperation in groups. In R. Dunbar & L. Barrett, Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.   Download Abstract: This chapter advances a new theory of altruism, competitive altruism, which might account for the uniquely moral altruistic tendency of...

Van Lange, P., Bekkers, R., Schuyt, T., & Van Vugt, M. (2007). From games to giving: Social value orientation predicts donations to noble causes. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 29, 375-384.  Download Abstract: The central purpose of the present research is to examine the ability of social value orientation (i.e., prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientation), as measured...

Hardy, C., & Van Vugt, M. (2006). Nice guys finish first: The competitive altruism hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1402-1413.  Download Abstract: Three experimental studies examined the relationship between altruistic behavior and the emergence of status hierarchies within groups. In each study, group members were confronted with a social dilemma in which...

Van Vugt, M., & Van Lange, P. (2006).  Psychological adaptations for prosocial behaviour:  The altruism puzzle.  In M. Schaller, D. Kenrick, & J. Simpson, Evolution and Social Psychology (pp. 237-261).  Psychology Press.  Download Abstract:  This chapter addresses the evolutionary roots of the, by and large, uniquely human capacity for helping other people...

Van Lange, P. A. M., De Cremer, D., & Van Dijk, E., & Van Vugt, M. (2007). From aggression to altruism: Basic principles of social interaction. In E.T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds), Social Psychology: Handbook of Basic Principles (pp. 540-561) . New York : Guilford.  Download Abstract: What interpersonal orientations drive sodal interactions? Does selfishness underlie most...

Powell, C., & Van Vugt, M. (2003).  Genuine giving or selfish sacrifice? The role of commitment and cost level upon willingness to sacrifice.  European Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 403-412.  Download Abstract: This research uses interdependence theory to examine the link between commitment, costs, and willingness to sacrifice within interdependence dilemmas occurring in...

Van Vugt, M. (2002). Central, individual or collective control? Social dilemma strategies for natural resource management. American Behavioral Scientist, 45,  783-800. Download Abstract: In this article, natural resource management is conceptualized as a social dilemma, a conflict between the short-term self-interest of users and the long-term collective interest of the user community....