Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Equity Theory01:26

Equity Theory

402
Equity theory explains how our sense of fairness influences the dynamics of close relationships. Rooted in social psychology, the theory posits that individuals evaluate fairness by comparing the ratio of their contributions to the rewards they receive. Relationship satisfaction is highest when these ratios are perceived as balanced between partners, promoting mutual reciprocity and a sense of justice.Equity vs. Equality in RelationshipsEquity is distinct from equality. Fairness does not...
402
Relationship Formation02:12

Relationship Formation

46.4K
What do you think is the single most influential factor in determining with whom you become friends and whom you form romantic relationships? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is simple: the people with whom you have the most contact. This most important factor is proximity. You are more likely to be friends with people you have regular contact with. For example, there are decades of research that shows that you are more likely to become friends with people who live in your dorm,...
46.4K
Desirable Characteristics in Others01:26

Desirable Characteristics in Others

204
Various factors, including the type of relationship, gender, and duration of the relationship, influence the perception of desirable characteristics in others. While certain traits such as trustworthiness, cooperativeness, agreeableness, and extraversion are universally valued across all relationships, other characteristics are context-dependent and gain prominence based on specific relational dynamics.Universal and Context-Dependent TraitsTrustworthiness and cooperativeness are fundamental...
204
Close Relationships and Culture01:29

Close Relationships and Culture

368
Culture shapes how people approach attraction, choose partners, and build long-term relationships. While some preferences in mate selection appear consistent across cultures, such as men valuing physical attractiveness and women emphasizing financial resources, cultural contexts influence how these preferences are expressed and prioritized. Marriage extends beyond romantic ideals in many societies and is deeply embedded in social, economic, and religious frameworks.The Role of Culture in Mate...
368
Factors Influencing Attraction III: Similarity01:23

Factors Influencing Attraction III: Similarity

981
The similarity hypothesis suggests that individuals are more likely to form relationships with others who share similar attitudes, beliefs, values, and interests. This concept has been widely studied in social psychology, demonstrating that perceived similarity fosters interpersonal attraction. In an experiment supporting this hypothesis, participants were presented with fabricated information indicating that strangers held attitudes similar to their own. The results showed that participants...
981
Mate Choice01:20

Mate Choice

12.0K
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
12.0K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Why human societies adopt rigid moral rules: The efficiency-robustness trade-off.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

Perceived Waist-to-Hip Ratio Predicts Attractiveness, Age, and Parity Judgments in Pre-Contemporary European Portraits of Clothed Women.

Archives of sexual behavior·2026
Same author

Moral cognition is contractualist, but does not work by simulating a bargaining process.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026
Same author

Distinguishing regulatory variables and ecological affordances: Prioritizing goals versus implementing action.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2026
Same author

Openness to Experience: from ecology to culture.

Trends in cognitive sciences·2026
Same author

'Our Roots Run Deep': Historical Myths as Culturally Evolved Technologies for Coalitional Recruitment - CORRIGENDUM.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2025

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
14:32

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care

Published on: February 16, 2011

25.0K

Partner choice creates fairness in humans.

Stéphane Debove1, Jean-Baptiste André2, Nicolas Baumard3

  • 1Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole normale supérieure (IBENS), INSERM 1024, CNRS 8197, Ecole normale supérieure-PSL Research University, Paris, France Institut Jean-Nicod (CNRS-EHESS-ENS), Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole normale supérieure-PSL Research University, Paris, France sd@stephanedebove.net.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|May 15, 2015
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Partner choice influences human cooperation but not fairness. This study reveals that equal outside options are crucial for partner choice to evolve fair resource divisions, solving a long-standing puzzle.

Keywords:
biological marketegalitarianismhuman evolutionhuman fairnesspartner choiceultimatum game

More Related Videos

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
08:24

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

1.3K
A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments
08:12

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

3.1K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 12, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
14:32

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care

Published on: February 16, 2011

25.0K
The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
08:24

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies

Published on: August 25, 2023

1.3K
A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments
08:12

A Psychophysics Paradigm for the Collection and Analysis of Similarity Judgments

Published on: March 1, 2022

3.1K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Behavioral economics
  • Game theory

Background:

  • Partner choice is key in human cooperation evolution.
  • Its impact on human fairness evolution is less understood.
  • Competition for partners can lead to unfair resource divisions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate how partner choice impacts the evolution of fairness.
  • Solve the puzzle of how partner choice can lead to fair divisions.
  • Examine the role of outside options in partner choice and fairness.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted a behavioral experiment.
  • Ran agent-based simulations.
  • Analyzed a game-theoretic model.

Main Results:

  • Partner choice leads to fairness exclusively when individuals possess equal outside options.
  • Demonstrated the mechanism through experiments, simulations, and theoretical models.
  • Identified equal outside options as a critical condition for fairness evolution.

Conclusions:

  • Partner choice promotes fairness in resource division only under conditions of equal outside options.
  • Discusses the evolutionary history supporting this condition.
  • Offers implications for understanding broader aspects of human fairness.