Group decision-making from an evolutionary/adaptationist perspective

Abstract

Over the 20 years that Group Processes and Intergroup Relations has been in existence, evolutionary theory has begun to play a larger role in our understanding of human social behavior. Theory and research on group decision-making is no exception and the present paper attempts to briefly highlight how an evolutionary/adaptationist perspective has informed our understanding of how groups reach consensus and make collective choices. In addition, we attempt to show that humans are not the only species that use group processes to make important choices. Looking for similarities and continuities among research domains with different species should lead to a more unified and informed understanding of group decision-making processes and outcomes.

Punishing the individual or the group for norm violation

“…Our current finding that people are less generous in a group replicates previous studies showing that individuals in groups display free-riding behaviors (Morgan & Tindale, 2002;Tindale & Kameda, 2017;Wildschut et al, 2003). These previous studies compared groups facing groups to individuals facing individuals and showed that groups are more competitive (Wildschut et al, 2003), defect more in a prisoner dilemma game (Morgan & Tindale, 2002) and offer less in a joint decision in an ultimatum game (Bornstein & Yaniv, 1998).…”

“…Indirect empirical evidence supports this hypothesis that being in a group could help shift the blame and avoid punishments. People are more likely to display freeriding behaviors in groups (Morgan & Tindale, 2002;Tindale & Kameda, 2017;Wildschut, Pinter, Vevea, Insko, & Schopler, 2003), possibly thinking they might get away easier with their act as a group. Also, a group is judged less responsible (Waytz & Young, 2012) and punished less severely (Newheiser, Sawaoka, & Dovidio, 2012) when perceived as a collection of distinct agents (low-cohesive group) than as a unified agent (high-cohesive group).…”

How can we master the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic? The role of planning at social levels

“…As our analysis of the challenges during the Coronavirus pandemic shows, many of the needed behaviours were not performed by individuals in isolation but by teams, groups, and individuals in social contexts. This is not surprising, as humans are highly dependent on each other for survival (e.g., Sober & Wilson, 1998), and therefore perform tasks and make decisions together (Kerr & Tindale, 2004;Tindale & Kameda, 2017). Regarding teams and groups, the question arises how these social entities can act most effectively.…”

Twenty years of group processes and intergroup relations research: A review of past progress and future prospects

“…Scott Tindale and Tatsuya Kameda (2017) consider how evolutionary theory can help us understand the nature of group decision processes. They take an adaptationist approach to this question, arguing that for both accuracy and acceptance, human groups have evolved various decision-making procedures and ways of accounting for the collective preferences of the group.…”