Social psychological study of adaptive bases of sharing rules

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This study examined adaptive bases of social sharing rules from an evolutionary perspective. As repeatedly found in anthropology and sociology, social exchange and sharing of important resources with others constitute a core element of human group life. We conducted a series of computer simulations and evolutionary game modeling to explore adaptive values of social sharing, and then submitted the theses derived from the modeling for empirical tests by a series of psychological/behavioral experiments. The game modeling revealed that, when resource-acquisition is highly uncertain, a communal-sharing strategy that designates the resource for public goods is an Evolutionarily Stable Strategy. Cross-national experiments using American as well as Japanese participants provided some empirical supports for this thesis, revealing that human sharing tendency is highly contingent upon the degree of uncertainties involved in resource acquisition.