Moral rigidity as a proximate facilitator of group cohesion and combativeness

Abstract

Dreu & Gross's description of the proximate mechanisms conditioning success in intergroup conflict omits humans' deep deontological moral propensities. Drawing on research on sacralization and moral objectivism, I show how “moral rigidity” may have evolved through partner selection mechanisms to foster ancestral coalitions’ cohesion and combativeness in intergroup conflict.

Moral rigidity as a proximate facilitator of group cohesion and combativeness

“…In terms of error management theory (Haselton et al 2015), evolution should therefore have selected for moral heuristics that are “biased” in favor of the most adaptive strategy: (1) making absolutely sure the individual will display the minimal level of prosocial commitment demanded by the contextual level of interdependence, while (2) showing automatic aversion to acts that could endanger the coalition's cooperative potential and combativeness in intergroup conflict. In this respect, intuitively sacralizing and objectifying core interpersonal obligations may constitute the most cost-effective computational way of completely isolating them from the temptation to trade them off with immediate self-interest (Marie & Fitouchi, in preparation).…”