Interaction Rituals and Cooperation
Year: 2013
Type: preprint
Abstract: A significant challenge is to explain how people cooperate for public goods. The problem is more difficult for people who hardly know one another, their public good is unclear at the outset and its timing and costs are uncertain. However, history shows that even under adverse conditions, people can cooperate. As a prelude to cooperation, people can establish (or reinforce) social ties and increase their solidarity through interaction rituals. Consequently, individuals' commitments and psychological states may synchronize, so that they can depend on like-minded people rather than on a rational grasp of their situation, which is not feasible under difficult circumstances. A necessary condition is that the network that is formed (or used) during the ritual compensates for participants' initial differences. A model shows exactly what network patterns are optimal, and it predicts that at a critical level of solidarity, a heterogeneous majority homogenizes in a sudden phase transition. This synchronization yields a boost of emotional energy for a burst of collective action.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Jeroen Bruggeman
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2167197137