Respect for ownership is a distinct evolved motive, deeper than fairness.
Evidence
Both evolutionary and developmental research indicate that humans are adapted to respecting property rights, independently (and possibly orthogonally) of considerations of fairness. We offer evidence from psychological experiments suggesting that enforcing one’s rights and respecting others’ possessions are basic cognitive mechanisms automatically activated and grounded in humans’ sensory-motor system. This may entail an independent motivation that is more profound than considerations of fairness and impartiality. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 579
Categorization
- XREF: Relevant to the reader’s analytical frame: if ownership/rights-respect is orthogonal to fairness, then the fumi-e ritual’s force derives from violating a more primal, sensorimotor-grounded ownership/respect norm rather than merely an impartiality norm. — connects to: Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 266; Moral fairness may itself have been shaped by natural selection. — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 12; Fairness regulates rather than generates the moralized expression of evolved dispositions — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality: The…, 692 (+4 more)
- QUESTION: Worth chasing: does this ‘automatic’ ownership-respect mechanism explain why the physical trampling of the fumi-e image carries such visceral weight beyond its symbolic message?
Related
- Morality evolved because fair partners were preferred in cooperative interactions (similarity 0.82)
- A disposition to fairness can evolve even when unshared, unlike a disposition to cooperate. (similarity 0.82)
- Morality is an evolved sense of fairness, not a late intellectual achievement (similarity 0.82)
- Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators. (similarity 0.81)
- Fairness evolved as a psychological device because outside market options constrain benefit distribution. (similarity 0.81)
- Morality evolves in two steps, from selfish reciprocity to intrinsic fairness. (similarity 0.81)
- Fairness regulates rather than generates the moralized expression of evolved dispositions (similarity 0.80)
- Fairness evolved to distribute payoffs by input, not equally. (similarity 0.79)
- Morality extends beyond fairness among strangers to relational obligations (similarity 0.79)
- A preference for fairness can directly favor equalitarianism in cooperation. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Moral fairness may itself have been shaped by natural selection.
#corroborates(0.82) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 12 - Morality evolved as a propensity for fair cost-benefit sharing among cooperators.
#corroborates(0.80) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 266 - Morality evolves in two steps, from selfish reciprocity to intrinsic fairness.
#complicates(0.80) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 73 - Morality is an evolved sense of fairness, not a late intellectual achievement
#corroborates(0.78) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 656 - Fairness regulates rather than generates the moralized expression of evolved dispositions
#expands(0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 692 - Morality evolved because fair partners were preferred in cooperative interactions
#corroborates(0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 4 - A genuine moral sense evolved to secure reputation as a cooperator
#corroborates(0.72) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 67