EAPSI: A Cross-cultural Study of the Relationship Between Social Ecology and Evolved Cognitive Systems for Forgiveness

社会关系是人类生活的重要组成部分。然而，即使是最牢固的关系也可能在一方伤害或冒犯另一方的情况下受到胁迫。而不是放弃这些关系，人们经常以原谅作为回应。因为宽恕对于维持有价值的合作关系至关重要，研究人员认为，人类拥有进化的心理机制来实现宽恕。这些机制利用两个标准来决定一个人是否会原谅或放弃一段关系：这段关系的价值，以及冒犯者再次利用这段关系的可能性。这个项目的目的是研究这些宽恕机制在不同文化景观中的运作，因为文化在提供的社会机会方面有所不同，从而影响了关系价值。很少为新伴侣提供机会的文化相应地提高了现有关系的价值，使人们更愿意原谅；当新的人际关系稀缺时，就会有外部动机再给某人一次机会。相比之下，在新关系丰富的文化中，个人可能不太愿意容忍一个有害的伴侣。该项目将在日本神户大学与宽恕研究专家Yohsuke Ohtsubo博士合作进行。日本是研究这一现象的理想场所，因为它形成了一个很难找到新的社会关系的社会，使其成为美国的最佳陪衬，美国提供了形成许多新的社会关系的机会。本项目旨在从社会生态学的角度解释宽恕的跨文化差异，强调行为和心理通常是个体为应对当地环境条件而采取的博弈论策略的产物。此外，本项目还进一步研究了宽恕与合作的心理机制的进化设计。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会和日本科学促进会共同资助，隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，支持一名美国研究生进行暑期研究。

Social relationships are a key component of human life. However, even the strongest of relationships can come under duress in the event that one partner harms or offends the other. Rather than abandoning these relationships, people frequently respond by forgiving. Because forgiveness is crucial in maintaining valuable cooperative relationships, researchers have suggested that humans possess evolved psychological mechanisms designed for achieving forgiveness. These mechanisms utilize two criteria in determining whether an individual will forgive or abandon a relationship: the value of the relationship, and the likelihood that the offender will exploit them again. The purpose of this project is to investigate the operation of these forgiveness mechanisms across diverse cultural landscapes, as cultures vary in terms of the social opportunities they offer, consequently impacting relationship value. Cultures that offer few opportunities for new relationship partners commensurately raise the value of existing relationships, making people more willing to forgive; when new relationships are scarce, there is external incentive to give someone another chance. In contrast, in cultures where new relationships are plentiful, individuals may be less motivated to tolerate a harmful partner. This project will be conducted at Kobe University in Japan in collaboration with Dr. Yohsuke Ohtsubo, an expert in forgiveness research. Japan is the ideal place to study this phenomenon, fostering a society where new social relationships are difficult to find, making it an optimal foil to the United States, a society that affords the opportunity to form many new social relationships. This project aims to explain cross-cultural variation in forgiveness using a socio-ecological perspective, emphasizing that behavior and psychology are often the product of game theoretic strategies that individuals adopt in response to local environmental conditions. In addition, this project furthers research on the evolved design of psychological mechanisms undergirding forgiveness and cooperation.This award ,under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.