伙伴选择对合作行为的影响作用与机制

伙伴选择是指个体根据其他个体能否给自己带来获益而选择或拒绝与他们建立伙伴关系的行为。伙伴选择对合作行为具有非常重要的影响, 表现为：个体只要有离开或自主选择伙伴的机会即可促进合作; 若能了解到伙伴的行为或特质层面的信息, 则可以进一步促进合作。基于目前研究, 伙伴选择主要可能通过4种具体机制促进合作行为, 即离开或拒斥的惩罚机制, 寻求合作者的奖赏机制, 分类匹配机制以及生物市场中的竞争机制。未来还需要从厘清伙伴选择的概念, 提升研究的生态效度, 深入探索其促进合作的内在机制, 尝试用伙伴选择解决伙伴控制条件下的合作问题, 以及探索中国文化背景下的伙伴选择与合作等方面开展进一步研究。

The impact of partner choice on cooperative behavior and its mechanisms

Partner choice refers to the individual’s behavior of choosing or refusing to engage in partnerships with other individuals based on whether they can bring benefits to him/her. Partner choice is an independent mechanism that promotes cooperative behavior. The theory of reciprocity based on partner control condition has dominated the discussion of non-kin cooperation for a long time. In contrast to the partner control condition, under which individuals focus on how to avoid being exploited by a defector to facilitate cooperation (e.g., the “tit-for-tat” strategy), under the partner choice condition, individuals can focus on both avoiding exploitation by leaving a defector and finding a better partner to get more substantial benefits. Briefly, it comprises three main aspects. First, partner choice itself can promote cooperation through leaving defectors and choosing partners; only partner choice is enough to bring about cooperative behaviors. Second, individuals can seek reliable cooperators to promote higher-level cooperation based not only on simple behaviors of others but also on stable information at the trait level (such as generosity, moral character, etc.). Third, in terms of internal mechanisms, in the process of partner choice, individuals may promote cooperation primarily through the punishment mechanism of walking away from uncooperative individuals (i.e., ostracism), the reward mechanism of seeking better cooperators, the assortative matching mechanism, and the competition mechanism of winning partners by developing competitive altruism. The punishment and reward mechanisms concern individual behavior, while the assortative matching and competition mechanisms involve the entire social system. In partner choice, individuals focus on finding more cooperative partners that leads to greater benefits rather than punishing others. Therefore, the promotion of cooperative behavior by partner choice needs to be explained more with the reward mechanism, the assortative matching mechanism and the competition mechanism.