The Geography of Ethnocentrism

Bibliographic Data

ID6283941
AuthorsAndrew W Bausch (Carnegie Mellon University, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume59
Issue3
Pages510-527
Publication date2015-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022002713515401
OpenAlexW2130164323
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited35

Hammond and Axelrod use an evolutionary agent-based model to explore the development of ethnocentrism. They argue that local interactions permit groups, relying on in-group favoritism, to overcome the Nash equilibrium of the prisoner’s dilemma and sustain in-group cooperation. This article shows that higher levels of cooperation evolve when groups are dropped from the model, breaking the link between ethnocentrism and cooperation. This article then generalizes Hammond and Axelrod’s model by parameterizing the underlying geographical assumptions they make about the evolutionary environment. This more general model shows that their findings are sensitive to these assumptions and that small changes to the assumed geography of reproduction significantly affect the probabilities of finding “ethnocentric” behaviors. The model presented here indicates that it is not local interactions, per se, but settings where interactions are highly likely to be with close relatives that lead to “ethnocentrism” as modeled by Hammond and Axelrod

Demographics · Dilemma · Economic geography · Economics · Epistemology · Ethnocentrism · Mathematical economics · Positive economics · Sociology · Demography · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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