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Moral Psychology

The Evolutionary Perspective

The existence and nature of altruism, a primary concern of evolutionary biology, has obvious significance in the study of moral psychology. Altruism is defined as "actions that help another individual at some cost to the altruist".(Barber, 2004, p. 9) Most evolutionary biologists today believe that altruism is heavily related to kin selection. This view is the bases for Hamilton's Rule, which states that altruism will occur if the benefits to the recipient, b, times the fraction of shared genes, r, is greater than the cost to the altruist, c (Durgatkin, 2006, p.102). This rule holds in a number of situation ranging from altruist behavoir in worker bees (104) to the warning signals of an approaching predator in squirrels (134). Thus from this prespective familial relations would appear to have a significant impact on moral behavoir in humans. This is indeed the case in human families as evidence shows that stepfathers tend to devote less recources to and are more likely to abuse step children as compared to biological children (130).

The Sociological Perspective

While the concept on altruism as kin selection has significant implications in the study of moral psychology moral behavoir extends farther than the family. This is the subject of the related concept of cooperation. The concept of cooperation is exemplified by the game theory concept of the extended Prisoner's dilemma. In this situation two individuals have a choice to either cooperate or not. If either actor can manage to not cooperate while the other does he recieves a large payoff. If neither cooperate there is no payoff, but if both cooperate there is a small payoff. This situation can be seen in the behavoir of vampire bats. When a bat find food and in satiated it is expected by it's companions to share the food by regurgitating it. This benefits bats as it gives them insurance against poor luck finding food. It is obviously benficial to take and never give except for the fact that either immediate reprisal will occur or reprisal will occur when the situation is reversed. (Barber, 2004, p. 10)

In humans this kind of situation can be seen in the decision of whether or not to cheat on taxes. Presumably taxes are used to that their use benefits everyone in society more than the cost of paying them hurts. If no one pays taxes everyone suffers. However, if a society is sufficiantly large individuals can reap large benefits by not paying their taxes and still benefiting from public services. This situation is similar to the concept of social loafing, in which productivity decreases as members of a large group fail to put in as much effort as they would working alone. The solution to these problems is widespread acceptance of the moral value of reciprocity. Thus when reciprocity, the idea that one good turn deserves another, in accepted ought to convince individuals not to take advantage of the cooperative actions of others by not cooperating themselves.

Notes

• Barber, N. (2004). Kindess in a Cruel World: The Evolution of Altruism. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books
• Durgatkin, L.A.(2006). The Altruism Equation: Seven Scientist Search for the Origins of Goodness. Princeton: Princeton University Press