WHEN TO BEAR FALSE WITNESS: AN EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF HONESTY AND DECEIT AMONG COMMERCIAL FISHERS |
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Authors: | Craig T Palmer |
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Institution: | Craig T. Palmer teaches anthropology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and at the University of Colorado at Denver. Mailing address: 1901 Stardust Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80906. |
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Abstract: | Abstract. This paper uses an evolutionary perspective to identify variables influencing compliance with moral codes about honest communication. Data on over one thousand radio conversations among lobster fishers in two harbors in Maine are compared in regard to the sharing of information. The sharing of accurate information is found to be significantly more frequent in the harbor that is more integrated by reciprocally altruistic relationships. This is consistent with the view that moral systems are systems of indirect reciprocity, but it also suggests that humans have evolved to base their compliance with moral codes on cues from their social environment. |
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Keywords: | commercial fishing communication deceit Maine moral codes reciprocal altruism |
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