The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners

Cooperation is a fundamental aspect of human society. We rely on each other for resources, protection, and reproduction. As such, it is critical to ensure we select the correct cooperative partners. Biological market theory uses the analogy of a marketplace to describe social interaction. This theor...

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Main Author: Ding, Vivi Xin Hui
Other Authors: Michael David Gumert
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/168446
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1684462023-06-18T15:32:05Z The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners Ding, Vivi Xin Hui Michael David Gumert School of Social Sciences Gumert@ntu.edu.sg Social sciences::Psychology Cooperation is a fundamental aspect of human society. We rely on each other for resources, protection, and reproduction. As such, it is critical to ensure we select the correct cooperative partners. Biological market theory uses the analogy of a marketplace to describe social interaction. This theory provides a framework that explains the evolution of cooperation. It posits ability and willingness to confer benefits as cues that influence the decision of choosing a cooperative partner. Giving has a strong role in building and maintaining cooperative relationships. This paper hypothesises that there is signal value of giving when it comes to selecting cooperative partners. To answer this, emotions towards the giver were measured and participants were asked how likely were they to choose the giver as their cooperative partner. The study predicts both measures to be significant when the giver engages in behaviours that the participants deemed to be cues to a good cooperative partner. Social skills are believed to be increasingly popular to trade within the biological market. This paper uses positive social behaviours to measure social skills. Different scenarios of giving that showcase ability and willingness to confer benefits and social skills are used in this study. Findings in this study support the theory of biological market and showed similar results to existing literatures about giving and social skills. This paper also reports findings which showed that there may be preference for social skills as compared to giving. Other theories such as indirect reciprocity is discussed in this paper. Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology 2023-06-13T01:01:48Z 2023-06-13T01:01:48Z 2023 Final Year Project (FYP) Ding, V. X. H. (2023). The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/168446 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/168446 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Psychology
spellingShingle Social sciences::Psychology
Ding, Vivi Xin Hui
The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
description Cooperation is a fundamental aspect of human society. We rely on each other for resources, protection, and reproduction. As such, it is critical to ensure we select the correct cooperative partners. Biological market theory uses the analogy of a marketplace to describe social interaction. This theory provides a framework that explains the evolution of cooperation. It posits ability and willingness to confer benefits as cues that influence the decision of choosing a cooperative partner. Giving has a strong role in building and maintaining cooperative relationships. This paper hypothesises that there is signal value of giving when it comes to selecting cooperative partners. To answer this, emotions towards the giver were measured and participants were asked how likely were they to choose the giver as their cooperative partner. The study predicts both measures to be significant when the giver engages in behaviours that the participants deemed to be cues to a good cooperative partner. Social skills are believed to be increasingly popular to trade within the biological market. This paper uses positive social behaviours to measure social skills. Different scenarios of giving that showcase ability and willingness to confer benefits and social skills are used in this study. Findings in this study support the theory of biological market and showed similar results to existing literatures about giving and social skills. This paper also reports findings which showed that there may be preference for social skills as compared to giving. Other theories such as indirect reciprocity is discussed in this paper.
author2 Michael David Gumert
author_facet Michael David Gumert
Ding, Vivi Xin Hui
format Final Year Project
author Ding, Vivi Xin Hui
author_sort Ding, Vivi Xin Hui
title The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
title_short The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
title_full The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
title_fullStr The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
title_full_unstemmed The signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
title_sort signal value of giving in selecting cooperative partners
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2023
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/168446
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