Clever people spark greater cooperation

Clever(ˈklevər) people spark(spärk) greater cooperation(kōˌäpəˈrāSHən)

The more generous(ˈjenərəs) and cooperative(kōˈäp(ə)rətiv) members of society(səˈsīətē) work in the best interest of others - and themselves.

By Andis Sofianos and Eugenio Proto and Aldo Rustichini

What drives people to cooperate with each other? And what characteristics(ˌkariktəˈristik) lead a person to do something that will both benefit them, and those around them? Our new research suggests(sə(g)ˈjest) that the answer is intelligence(inˈtelijəns): it is the primary(ˈprīm(ə)rē,ˈprīˌmerē) condition for a socially cohesive(-ziv,kōˈhēsiv) and cooperative society.

In the past, some economists(iˈkänəmist) have suggested that consideration of others and generally pro-social attitudes(ˈatiˌt(y)o͞od) are what motivate(ˈmōtəˌvāt) people towards more generous and cooperative behaviours(biˈhāvyər) which help sustain(səˈstān) a cohesive society. Others have suggested that adhering(adˈhi(ə)r) to good norms(nôrm) and respecting institutions(ˌinstiˈt(y)o͞oSHən) push us towards more socially useful behaviours.

But another possibility is that insightful(inˈsītfəl) self-interest guides us to become effectively(iˈfektəvlē) good citizens – and that cooperation arises(əˈrīz) in society if people are smart enough to foresee(fôrˈsē) the social consequences(-ˌkwens,ˈkänsikwəns) of their actions, including the consequences for others.

Our study, which took part in behavioural labs in the US and UK with 792 participants(pärˈtisəpənt), was designed to test these three different suggestions for why people cooperate with each other. In it, we used games that contain a set of rules that assign(əˈsīn) a reward to two players depending on their decisions.

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http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180327-how-clever-people-improve-societies