%0 Journal Article
%A Glowacki, Luke
%A Lew-Levy, Sheina
%+ Department of Human Behavior Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T How small-scale societies achieve large-scale cooperation : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-7005-3
%R 10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.026
%D 2022
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X For most of our species’ history, humans have lived in relatively small subsistence communities, often called small-scale societies. While these groups lack centralized institutions, they can and often do maintain large-scale cooperation. Here, we explore several mechanisms promoting cooperation in small-scale societies, including (a) the development of social norms that encourage prosocial behavior, (b) reciprocal exchange relationships, (c) reputation that facilitates high-cost cooperation, (d) relational wealth, and (e) risk buffering institutions. We illustrate these with ethnographic and psychological evidence from contemporary small-scale societies. We argue that these mechanisms for cooperation helped past and present small-scale communities adapt to diverse ecological and social niches.
%K Foragers, Cooperation, Norms, Small-scale societies, Hunter-gatherers, Prosociality, Reputation, Reciprocity
%J Current Opinion in Psychology
%V 44 
%& 44
%P 44 - 48
%I Elsevier
%C Amsterdam
%@ 2352-250X