Scott Conley Calvert

Theoretical and empirical research in psychology and evolutionary anthropology suggest inter-group conflict is associated with both parochial altruism and social norm strength, i.e., the degree of tolerance from social norms. Although theoretically these three dimensions of cultural diversity covary at individual and group levels, their relationship remains untested directly. This study investigates the interrelationships of inter-group conflict, within-group cooperation, and norm strength across 10 villages in a socio-politically egalitarian agropastoralist group in Ethiopia, where involvement in violent conflict with neighboring ethnic groups varies significantly. Cooperation is measured in two domains, warfare and food sharing, the former in a public goods game contextualized as a problem of collective defense of grazing lands, and the latter in a naturalistic common pool resource game. To measure of ‘tightness,’ all participants will be interviewed about their openness to abandoning traditional practices (e.g. infanticide) the Ethiopian government has sought to eradicate and their openness to adopting non-traditional practices (e.g. Christianity). Core hypotheses are that individuals and groups more affected by inter-group violence will a) exhibit higher levels of prosociality in public goods games, b) be less open to abandoning traditional practices, and c) be more open to adopting those of the dominant Ethiopian culture.