Lightner Aaron D, Hagen Edward H
Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
Evol Hum Sci. 2021 Feb 10;3:e15. doi: 10.1017/ehs.2021.10. eCollection 2021.
Acting on socially learned information involves risk, especially when the consequences imply certain costs with uncertain benefits. Current evolutionary theories argue that decision-makers evaluate and respond to this information based on context cues, such as prestige (the ) and/or incentives (the ). We tested the roles of each in explaining trust using a preregistered vignette-based study involving advice about livestock among Maasai pastoralists. In exploratory analyses, we also investigated how the relevance of each might be influenced by recent cultural and economic changes, such as market integration and shifting cultural values. Our confirmatory analysis failed to support the prestige bias model, and partially supported the risk and incentives model. Exploratory analyses suggested that regional acculturation varied strongly between northern vs. southern areas, divided by a small mountain. Consistent with the idea that trust varies with socially transmitted values and regional differences in market integration, people living near densely populated towns in the southern region were more likely to trust socially learned information about livestock. Higher trust among market-integrated participants might reflect a coordination solution in a region where traditional pastoralism is beset with novel conflicts of interest.
依据社会习得信息行事存在风险，尤其是当后果意味着确定的成本与不确定的收益时。当前的进化理论认为，决策者会基于诸如声望（the ）和/或激励（the ）等背景线索来评估并回应此类信息。我们通过一项预先注册的、基于 vignette 的研究测试了二者在解释信任方面的作用，该研究涉及马赛牧民关于牲畜的建议。在探索性分析中，我们还研究了近期文化和经济变化（如市场整合和文化价值观转变）可能如何影响二者的相关性。我们的验证性分析未能支持声望偏差模型，部分支持了风险与激励模型。探索性分析表明，被一座小山分隔的北部和南部地区之间的区域文化适应差异很大。与信任随社会传播的价值观和市场整合的区域差异而变化的观点一致，生活在南部地区人口密集城镇附近的人更有可能信任关于牲畜的社会习得信息。市场整合参与者之间较高的信任度可能反映了在一个传统畜牧业面临新的利益冲突的地区的一种协调解决方案。
