Group living suppresses individual self-interest to enable resource efficiency and mutual dependence.
Evidence
One of the primary purposes of group living is to promote efficient use of the surrounding environment by suppressing individual self-interest in favor of group-level outcomes (Caporael, 1997). If each individual seeks to maximize outcomes and resource just for the self, the environment would suffer and eventually so would the individual. But by combining efforts across multiple individuals, the group is able to take better advantage of available resources. Caporael (1997) asserts that as a result of group living, a system of obligated interdependence develops, in which individuals depend on the group and other group members to provide necessary resources, reproductive mates, and other services not achievable at the individual level, such as security and protection. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 905
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- DEFINE: Introduces the concept of ‘obligated interdependence’ — individuals depending on the group for resources and services unachievable alone.
Related
- Group living evolves by suppressing self-interest into obligated interdependence (similarity 0.96)
- Coordinated group living has been humanity’s primary survival strategy throughout evolution (similarity 0.81)
- Cooperative learning forces interdependence by making individual success depend on group success. (similarity 0.80)
- Humans are obligatorily interdependent because their evolved traits require group living (similarity 0.79)