Solving the puzzle of collective action through inter-individual differences

Models of collective action infrequently account for differences across individuals beyond a limited set of strategies, ignoring variation in endowment (e.g. physical condition, wealth, knowledge, personality, support), individual costs of effort, or expected gains from cooperation. However, behavio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 2015-12, Vol.370 (1683), p.20150002-20150002
Main Authors: von Rueden, Chris, Gavrilets, Sergey, Glowacki, Luke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Collective Action
Cooperation
Cooperative Behavior
Decision Making - physiology
Humans
Inter-Individual Differences
Introduction
Leadership
Primates
Reinforcement, Social
Selection, Genetic
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Summary:Models of collective action infrequently account for differences across individuals beyond a limited set of strategies, ignoring variation in endowment (e.g. physical condition, wealth, knowledge, personality, support), individual costs of effort, or expected gains from cooperation. However, behavioural research indicates these inter-individual differences can have significant effects on the dynamics of collective action. The papers contributed to this theme issue evaluate how individual differences affect the propensity to cooperate, and how they can catalyse others’ likelihood of cooperation (e.g. via leadership). Many of the papers emphasize the relationship between individual decisions and socio-ecological context, particularly the effect of group size. All together, the papers in this theme issue provide a more complete picture of collective action, by embracing the reality of inter-individual variation and its multiple roles in the success or failure of collective action.
ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2015.0002