The dual-process approach to human sociality: Meta-analytic evidence for a theory of internalized heuristics for self-preservation.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 126(5) of (see record 2025-05381-001). The last entry in the Roch et al. (2000) row in Table 3 should appear instead as load decreases taking. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Which social decisions are influenced by intuitive processes? Which by deliberative processes? The dual-process approach to human sociality has emerged in the last decades as a vibrant and exciting area of research. Yet a perspective that integrates empirical and theoretical work is lacking. This review and meta-analysis synthesizes the existing literature on the cognitive basis of cooperation, altruism, truth telling, positive and negative reciprocity, and deontology and develops a framework that organizes the experimental regularities. The meta-analytic results suggest that intuition favors a set of heuristics that are related to the instinct for self-preservation: people avoid being harmed, avoid harming others (especially when there is a risk of harm to themselves), and are averse to disadvantageous inequalities. Finally, this article highlights some key research questions to further advance our understanding of the cognitive foundations of human sociality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).