Anticipatory Threat Mitigates the Break-Down of Group Cooperation

Abstract

Humans are exposed to environmental and economic threats that can profoundly affect individual survival and group functioning. While anecdotal evidence suggest that threat exposure can increase collective action, the effects of threat on decision making have been mainly investigated at the individual level. Here we examine how threat exposure and concomitant physiological responses modulate cooperation in small groups. Individuals (N = 105, aged 18-34) in groups of three were exposed to threat of electric shocks while deciding how much to contribute to a public good. Threat of shock induced a state of physiological freezing and, compared to no-threat conditions, reduced free-riding and enabled groups to maintain higher cooperation over time. Exploratory analyses revealed that more cooperative responses under threat were driven by stronger baseline prosociality, suggesting that habitual pro-sociality is reinforced under threat. The current results support the view that human groups respond to outside threat with increased cooperation.