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Updated: Jun 27, 2025
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The Collective Trust Game: An Online Group Adaptation of the Trust Game Based on the HoneyComb Paradigm
Published on: October 20, 2022
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Indirect reciprocity undermines indirect reciprocity destabilizing large-scale cooperation
Eric Schnell1, Michael Muthukrishna1
1Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom.
Summary
Indirect reciprocity, or reputation, can falter when individuals have conflicting reputations across local and global groups. Cooperation in one group may hinder cooperation in another, challenging large-scale human cooperation models.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary game theory
- Social dynamics
- Behavioral economics
Background:
- Indirect reciprocity models suggest reputation stabilizes human cooperation.
- Existing models do not account for individuals in multiple groups with conflicting reputations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To extend existing models by incorporating individuals belonging to nested local and global groups.
- To investigate how competing reputations within these groups affect cooperation.
Main Methods:
- Developed an extended game-theoretic model with nested group structures.
- Analyzed strategies for conditional aid based on local versus global reputations.
Main Results:
- Reputation for cooperation in a local group can undermine cooperation in a larger global group.
- This occurs even when global cooperation offers higher theoretical payoffs.
Conclusions:
- Indirect reciprocity alone is insufficient to stabilize large-scale human cooperation.
- Cooperation at one scale can be perceived as defection at another, complicating cooperation dynamics.
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