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Related Experiment Video

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The ultra-social animal.

Michael Tomasello1

  • 1Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig, Germany.

European Journal of Social Psychology
|February 3, 2015
PubMed
Summary

Human sociality is uniquely cooperative, differing significantly from great apes. This research explores cooperation, prosocial behavior, and social norms in children versus apes, offering evolutionary insights.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Comparative Psychology
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • Human sociality is characterized by diverse forms of cooperation.
  • Understanding the evolutionary roots of human cooperation is crucial for explaining human cognition and morality.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare cooperation, prosocial behavior, conformity, and group-mindedness in human children and great apes.
  • To provide an evolutionary perspective on human sociality, considering foraging and cultural group formation.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of human children and great apes.
  • Utilizing various tests assessing collaboration, prosocial behavior, conformity, and social norm adherence.
  • Framing research within a hypothetical two-step evolutionary scenario.

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Main Results:

  • Human children exhibit distinct patterns of cooperation and social norm engagement compared to great apes.
  • Evidence suggests unique collaborative strategies in early human foraging.
  • Modern humans demonstrate advanced group-mindedness and cultural group formation.

Conclusions:

  • Human sociality's unique cooperative nature underpins distinct cognitive and moral capacities.
  • Evolutionary steps involving collaboration and cultural group formation shaped human social behavior.
  • Comparative studies with great apes illuminate the evolutionary trajectory of human sociality.