Altruism without genuine moral emotion signals unreliable future cooperation.

Evidence

Selection may favor distrusting those who perform altruistic acts without the emotional basis of generosity or guilt because the altruistic tendencies of such individuals may be less reliable in the future. One can imagine, for example, compensating for a misdeed without any emotional basis but with a calculating, self-serving motive. Such an individual should be distrusted because the calculating spirit that leads this subtle cheater now to compensate may in the future lead him to cheat when circumstances seem more advantageous (because of unlikelihood of detection, for example, or because the cheated individual is unlikely to survive). — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 68

Categorization

• XREF: Directly connects to the paper’s stated reading purpose: the fumi-e trampling as a public test designed to expose the calculating cheater versus the genuinely moral priest, and to the partner-choice model of Baumard et al. invoked in the reading frame. — connects to: Altruism is defined by sustained patterns of costly acts, not any single act. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 497; Egoistic motivations alone cannot sustain cooperation without plausible self-regulating structures; Perceived moral obligation does not guarantee trust (+2 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: This reverses the moral-signaling intuition: sincerity is not just socially valued but selected-for as a reliability cue against ‘subtle cheaters’ who mimic morality without its emotional engine.

Related

• Altruism is defined by sustained patterns of costly acts, not any single act. (similarity 0.83)
• Altruistic cooperators still choose partners they trust and cooperate only where reciprocation is possible. (similarity 0.81)
• Genuinely moral partners signal higher reliability than strategically moral ones. (similarity 0.81)
• Stable unconditional cooperation exists and mutualism alone cannot explain it. (similarity 0.79)
• Reciprocal altruism is really mutualism, not altruism (similarity 0.79)
• Self-regulation, not fairness alone, enables prosocial culture. (similarity 0.79)
• Morality requires mutual advantage, not strict accounting of reciprocated acts. (similarity 0.79)
• Partner selection produces genuine moral feelings, not just narrow self-interested cooperation. (similarity 0.79)
• Competition for partners drives costly reputation-building cooperation. (similarity 0.78)
• Moralistic punishment of defectors is itself a costly reputational signal. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Egoistic motivations alone cannot sustain cooperation without plausible self-regulating structures #corroborates (0.82)
• Perceived moral obligation does not guarantee trust #corroborates (0.78)