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Science 23 June 2006:
Vol. 312. no. 5781, p. 1712
DOI: 10.1126/science.312.5781.1712g
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Behavior does not always agree with claimed intent--hence, "Do as I say, not as I do." In order to assess variations in the assessment of fairness and punishment across the breadth of humanity, Henrich et al. (p. 1767; see the news story by Bhattacharjee) have complemented existing evidence from questionnaire-based surveys by adapting three economic games--the ultimatum game, third party punishment, and the dictator game--and by sampling 15 small-scale societies distinctly dissimilar to the commonly used pool of students in industrialized countries. Individuals across populations become more willing to administer punishment (even when they must "pay to punish") as inequality increases, and this willingness co-varies with altruistic behavior.




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