Intergroup competition selects prosocial norms that can simultaneously dehumanize outsiders.

Evidence

To be clear, by “prosocial institutions” I mean institutions that lead to success in competition with other groups. While such institutions include those that increase group cooperation and foster internal harmony, I do NOT mean “good” or “better” in a moral sense. To underline this point, realize that intergroup competition often favors norms and beliefs that can readily result in the tribe or nation in the next valley getting labeled as “animals,” “nonhumans,” or “witches” and motivate efforts to exterminate them. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 558

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that ‘prosocial’ in Henrich’s competitive framework is functionally defined, stripped of moral valence.
• CANDY: A punchy elevator fact: evolution of cooperation inside a group is the same engine behind labeling neighbors ‘witches.’
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Most hunter-gatherer societies faced frequent or continuous warfare with high death tolls. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 564; Societies that prize equal opportunity and mobility breed intergroup competition and animosity — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1479; Societies promoting equal opportunity paradoxically generate more intergroup competition and animosity. (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Dehumanizing entire groups makes persecution of them socially acceptable #expands (0.88)
• Societies that prize equal opportunity and mobility breed intergroup competition and animosity #expands (0.82) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1479
• Societies promoting equal opportunity paradoxically generate more intergroup competition and animosity. #expands (0.82)
• Intragroup solidarity and intergroup hostility mutually reinforce each other #complicates (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 136
• Groups develop negative stereotypes of others to justify their competition for resources #expands (0.78) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2891
• Merely classifying people into outgroups triggers dehumanization that enables scapegoating #expands (0.75)
• Intergroup competition shifts populations toward self-sacrificial cooperation #expands (0.72) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 462
• Pure competition without framing norms produces social incoherence #expands (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 567