Source-sink behavioural dynamics limit institutional evolution in a group-structured society

Royal Society Open Science

Nicholas J. Gotelli¹  Matthew P. Dube²  Laurent Hébert-Dufresne³  Meredith T. Niles⁴  Laura Kati Corlew⁵  Guillaume St-Onge⁶  Stephanie J. Miller⁷  Brian J. McGill⁷  Timothy M. Waring⁸ 

[1] Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington VT, USA;Department of Computer Information Systems, University of Maine at Augusta, Bangor ME, USA;Department of Computer Science, University of Vermont, Burlington VT, USA;Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington VT, USA;Department of Social Science, University of Maine at Augusta, Bangor ME, USA;Département de physique, de génie physique et d'optique, Université Laval, Québec (Québec), Canada G1V 0A6;Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono ME, USA;School of Economics, University of Maine, Orono ME, USA;

关键词: source-sink dynamics;    institutions;    behavioural diffusion;    cultural evolution;    cooperation;   

DOI  :  10.1098/rsos.211743

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Social change in any society entails changes in both behaviours and institutions. We model a group-structured society in which the transmission of individual behaviour occurs in parallel with the selection of group-level institutions. We consider a cooperative behaviour that generates collective benefits for groups but does not spread between individuals on its own. Groups exhibit institutions that increase the diffusion of the behaviour within the group, but also incur a group cost. Groups adopt institutions in proportion to their fitness. Finally, the behaviour may also spread globally. We find that behaviour and institutions can be mutually reinforcing. But the model also generates behavioural source-sink dynamics when behaviour generated in institutionalized groups spreads to non-institutionalized groups and boosts their fitness. Consequently, the global diffusion of group-beneficial behaviour creates a pattern of institutional free-riding that limits the evolution of group-beneficial institutions. Our model suggests that, in a group-structured society, large-scale beneficial social change can be best achieved when the relevant behaviour and institutions remain correlated.

【 授权许可】

Unknown