Dunbar (2004)
Etymology
“God-sibs,” a peer group equivalent of godparents, or those especially close (Dunbar2004gbe, p. 100)
Origins
- large group size protects against predation, but also includes other stresses (e.g., resource competition and dominance)
- alliances and obligations are created through social grooming; which is also shown to release endorphins which furthers relaxation
- grooming is a one-on-one activity, but conversations can be “timeshared” in groups up to four individuals
- hence we are able to bond with more people in a larger group
- human spend about 20% of their time in social interactions (mainly conversations) (Dunbar2004gbe, p. 101-103)
Functions
- language permits us to be in contact with more individuals and query the status of our social network
- social topics (gossip) account for approximately 65% of speaking time, with limited variance due to age or gender
Dunbar’s number
Intentionality
Public goods
Conditions
- non-excludable (can’t limit others consumption)
- non-rivalrous (there consumption doesn’t affect yours)
Freeriders
Have no incentive to contribute to public good; they are defectors and non-reciprocators.
egs PG and FR??
Public goods game
- Four volunteers?
- You each are given 10 points
- You may contribute as many points as you want in the pot; which will be doubled; and then divided among all four.
Results
| Round | A | B | C | D | Total | Pay-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Role of gossip
- Enquist and Leimar (1993) showed that honest reciprocators will be made extinct by free riders
- However, if members can communicate even a modest amount of information about free riders (i.e., “gossip”) honest reciprocators would remain dominant (Dunbar2004gbe, p. 107)
