Coalitional value, cognitive ability, and status allocation
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Study design: Study Protocol
Abstract: The project will gather data for two planned studies: Study 1: The Evolution of Human Intelligence Evolutionary perspectives on human intelligence trace back to Darwin, with numerous explanations presented in the scientific literature. Recently, it has been hypothesized that human intelligence evolved as an honest signal of coalitional value, facilitating adaptive exchanges of status and cognitive-computational services. Study 1 aims to provide the first empirical test of the Coalitional Intelligence Hypothesis (CIH). This will be done by: - Assessing the cognitive skills of participants. - Grouping these participants into dyads and assigning them a task to measure their skills at organizing a social group. - Having the participants evaluate each other for status post-task. If the CIH holds true, we expect cognitive ability to predict status, with the relationship mediated by coalitional value, as measured by the task assessing social organization ability. In light of the CIH, it is also expected that people will be able to gauge the cognitive skills of their dyad partner with some accuracy. Study 2: Cognitive Overconfidence and Status-Enhancement This study will investigate whether cognitive overconfidence serves a status-enhancing function. The methodology includes: - Participants estimating their own cognitive skills. - Examining the relationship between actual test performance and self-estimated ability. - Determining if cognitive overconfidence leads to higher status. Egeland, Kennair, Kleppestø, and Bendixen will contribute to and coauthor Study 1, while Egeland will likely be the sole author of Study 2. This preregistration covers both studies for transparency and consistency.
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7126239642