Rosenstock, Sarita and O'Connor, Cailin (2018) When it's Good to Feel Bad: an evolutionary model of guilt and apology. [Preprint]
|
Text
good-feel-bad, preprint.pdf Download (442kB) | Preview |
Abstract
We use techniques from evolutionary game theory to analyze the conditions under which guilt can provide individual �fitness bene�fits, and so evolve. In particular, we focus on the bene�fits of guilty apology. We consider models where actors err in an iterated prisoner's dilemma and have the option to apologize. Guilt either improves the trustworthiness of apology, or imposes a cost on actors who apologize. We analyze the stability and likelihood of evolution of such a `guilt-prone' strategy against cooperators, defectors, grim-triggers, and individuals who o�ffer fake apologies, but continue to defect. We fi�nd that in evolutionary models guilty apology is more likely to evolve in cases where actors interact repeatedly over long periods of time, where the costs of apology are low or moderate, and where guilt is hard to fake. Researchers interested in naturalized ethics, and emotion researchers, can employ these results to assess the plausibility of fuller accounts of the evolution of guilt.
Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
Social Networking: |
Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Creators: |
|
|||||||||
Keywords: | guilt, evolutionary game theory, prisoner's dilemma, iterated prisoner's dilemma, apology, moral emotions, naturalized ethics | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Ethical Issues Specific Sciences > Psychology |
|||||||||
Depositing User: | Dr. Cailin O'Connor | |||||||||
Date Deposited: | 10 Mar 2016 21:56 | |||||||||
Last Modified: | 11 Feb 2018 22:27 | |||||||||
Item ID: | 11958 | |||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI | |||||||||
Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > Ethical Issues Specific Sciences > Psychology |
|||||||||
Date: | February 2018 | |||||||||
URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11958 |
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
View Item |