title: Revisiting Psychological Mechanisms in the Anthropology of Altruism.
abstract: Anthropologists have long been interested in the reasons humans choose to help some individuals and not others. Early research considered psychological mediators, such as feelings of cohesion or closeness, but more recent work, largely in the tradition of human behavioral ecology, shifted attention away from psychological measures to clearer observables, such as past behavior, genetic relatedness, affinal ties, and geographic proximity. In this paper, we assess the value of reintegrating psychological measures-perceived social closeness-into the anthropological study of altruism. Specifically, analyzing social network data from four communities in rural Bangladesh (N = 516), we show that perceived closeness has a strong independent effect on helping, which cannot be accounted for by other factors. These results illustrate the potential value of reintegrating proximate psychological measures into anthropological studies of human cooperation.
authors: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. jhackman@asu.edu.
authors: Joseph
authors: J
authors: Hackman
authors: LAMB Project for Integrated Health and Development, Parbatipur, Bangladesh.
authors: Shirajum
authors: S
authors: Munira
authors: LAMB Project for Integrated Health and Development, Parbatipur, Bangladesh.
authors: Khaleda
authors: K
authors: Jasmin
authors: School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Hruschka
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D004644:Emotions; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Altruism; Emotional closeness; Friendship; Helping; Social closeness; Social networks