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07:29
A Standardized Protocol for Preference Testing to Assess Fish Welfare
Published on: February 22, 2020
"Fair" outcomes without morality in cleaner wrasse mutualism.
Redouan Bshary1, Nichola Raihani
1Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland. redouan.bshary@unine.ch
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|March 1, 2013
Summary
Human fairness preferences evolved due to competition for social interactions. While similar conditions exist in animals, the full development of fairness, or morality, remains uniquely human, posing an evolutionary puzzle.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Behavioral economics
- Comparative psychology
Background:
- Fairness preferences are proposed to be an adaptation to environments with intense competition for social partnerships.
- Such competitive conditions are observed in various nonhuman animal species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the evolutionary origins of human fairness and its apparent uniqueness.
- To investigate why fairness, considered a component of morality, is predominantly observed in humans despite similar selective pressures in other animals.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of social interaction dynamics and competition levels across species.
- Review of existing literature on fairness, cooperation, and morality in humans and nonhuman animals.
Main Results:
- The study posits that strong competition for social partners provides a functional advantage for developing fairness preferences.
- Despite shared environmental pressures, the manifestation of advanced fairness and morality appears restricted to humans.
Conclusions:
- The evolution of fairness is linked to competitive social environments.
- The exclusive presence of morality in humans, despite comparable conditions in animals, requires further investigation into unique human cognitive or social factors.
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