| dc.description | In five independent studies evidence is presented consistent with the altruist-detection assumption of Frank's (1988) commitment model. What is unique about these findings is that they were attained using different methodological paradigms from different disciplines. Study One and Two's methodology was borrowed from cognitive psychology and suggests that humans have decision rules designed to detect an altruistic reputation. Study Three uses a standard social psychological methodology, i.e., the zero-acquaintance video-presentation paradigm in an inter-cultural context. Specifically, in zero-acquaintance video encounters with students speaking Dutch, Canadian students detected altruism level. Study Four (A & B) departs from an experimental approach by exploring the spontaneously occurring nonverbal behaviours of altruists and non-altruists in two cultures, i.e., Canadian and Dutch. Findings corroborate the nonverbal behaviour pathway to altruist detection, which claims that hard-to-fake facial expressions vary with altruism level. Finally, Study Five uses an experimental economics approach to test whether smile symmetry and reputation influence resource allocations. As predicted, subjects delivered more resources to cartoon icons with an altruistic reputation and cartoon icons with symmetrical smiles. These results are consistent with Frank's (1988) reputation and nonverbal pathways to altruist detection. If cooperative individuals are reliably identified, they may form alliances, which could have allowed for the selection of genes predisposing altruism in ancestral environments. | en_US |
