Shame and honour increase cooperation: UBC study informs future strategy for tackling global challenges

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/2011/06/01/shame-and-honour-increase-cooperation-ubc-study-informs-future-strategy-for-tackling-global-challenges/

Media Release | Jun. 1, 2011

Honour and shame work equally well in encouraging social cooperation, according to a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology.

Published today in Biology Letters, the study reported on the results of a series of experiments with 180 first-year UBC students (see below for experiment details.)

The research team shows that the threat of shame and promise of honour each increased cooperation by as much as 50 per cent, providing insights into potential future strategies for tackling global issues such as overfishing and climate change.

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