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Local competition promotes hurtful behaviour towards unknown others
Timothy Cason1, Arno Riedl2, Arthur Schram3
1Department of Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|March 5, 2026
Summary
Local competition fuels spite and retaliation, hindering cooperation. Global competition, however, promotes pro-sociality by directing hurtful behavior towards free-riders and rewarding helpfulness, fostering cooperation.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary psychology
- Behavioral economics
- Game theory
Background:
- Cooperation is essential for human success, but its sustainability relies on costly punishment of free-riders.
- Evolutionary models suggest competition can drive hurtful behaviors, yet empirical evidence on competition scale is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the scale of competition influences hurtful and helpful behaviors in human groups.
- To understand the impact of local versus global competition on cooperation strategies.
Main Methods:
- A laboratory experiment was conducted using an indirect reciprocity game.
- The scale of competition was manipulated to compare local and global competitive environments.
Main Results:
- Local competition led to increased spite and retaliation, characterized by hurtful behavior within isolated groups.
- Global competition shifted hurtful behavior towards punishing free-riders and rewarded helpfulness, promoting cooperation.
- Distinct behavioral patterns emerged based on the scale of competition.
Conclusions:
- Isolated, local competition can foster inefficient, anti-social behaviors.
- Global competition encourages pro-sociality and cooperation by aligning hurtful behavior with punishment of free-riders and rewarding helpfulness.
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