Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Articles and Reviews

Can Humans Cooperate to Create a Sustainable Future?

Published Online:February 13, 2024https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000516

Abstract

Abstract: In response to calls for a “cultural transformation” that aims to bring about a sustainable relationship with nature, this review considers the evolution of human cooperation and its implications for cultural change. The link between cooperation and culture has varied throughout human evolution. The hierarchical ranking of a primate ancestor changed in species of Homo when they adopted egalitarian social arrangements, a stage that persisted for hundreds of thousands of years before returning once more to hierarchy. With the maintenance of social status in contemporary societies seeming to depend heavily on patterns of consumption, it is argued that the ultimate success of a change toward sustainability will depend on new systems of economic management and social incentivization.

References

  • Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., Brown, K., Marshall, N., & O’Brien, K. (2013). Cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 3, 112–117. https://doi.org/10.1038/NCLIMATE1666 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Aktipis, A., Cronk, L., Alcock, J., Ayers, J., Baciu, C., Balliet, D., Boddy, A. M., Curry, O. S., Krems, J. A., Munoz, A., Sullivan, D., Sznycer, D., Wilkinson, G. S., & Winfrey, P. (2018). Understanding cooperation through fitness interdependence. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(7), 429–431. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0378-4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Apicella, C. L., & Silk, J. B. (2019). The evolution of human cooperation. Current Biology, 29, R425–R473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.036 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bai, X., van der Leeuw, S., O’Brien, K., Berkhout, F., Biermann, F., Brondizio, E. S., Cudennec, C., Dearing, J., Duraiappah, A., Glaser, M., Revkin, A., Steffen, W., & Syvitski, J. (2016). Plausible and desirable futures in the Anthropocene: A new research agenda. Global Environmental Change, 39, 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.09.017 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Batalha, L., & Reynolds, K. J. (2012). ASPIRing to mitigate climate change: Superordinate identity in global climate negotiations. Political Psychology, 33(5), 743–760. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00896.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Beckage, B., Lacasse, K., Winter, J. M., Gross, L. J., Fefferman, N., Hoffman, F. M., Metcalf, S. S., Franck, T., Carr, E., Zia, A., & Kinzig, A. (2021). The Earth has humans, so why don’t our climate models? Climatic Change, 163, 181–188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-20-02897-x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Biermann, F., Abbott, K. W., Andresen, S., & Backstrand, K. (2012). Navigating the anthropocene: Improving earth system governance. Science, 335(6074), 1306–1307. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1217255 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Boehm, C. (1999). Hierarchy in the forest: The evolution of egalitarian behavior. Harvard University Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Boehm, C. (2012). Moral origins: The evolution of virtue, altruism, and shame. Basic Books. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Borgerhoff Mulder, M., & Schact, R. (2012). Human behavioural ecology. Encyclopedia of life sciences. John Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470015902.a0003671.pub2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Boyd, R. (2018). A different kind of animal: How culture transformed our species. Princeton University Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Brosnan, S. F., Salwiczek, L., & Bshary, R. (2010). The interplay of cognition and cooperation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B, 365(1553), 2699–2710. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0154 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Columbus, S., Thielmann, I., Zettler, I., & Böhm, R. (2023). Parochial reciprocity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 44(2), 131–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.02.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Das, O. (2016). Climate change and armed conflict: Challenges and opportunities for maintaining international peace and security through climate justice. In R. S. AbateEd., Climate justice: Case studies in global and regional governance challenges (pp. 390–411). ELI (Environmental Law Institute). First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Gintis, H., van Schaik, C., & Boehm, C. (2015). Zoon politikon: The Evolutionary origins of human political systems. Current Anthropology, 56(3), 327–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.01.007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goodall, J. (2000). Reason for hope: A spiritual journey. Warner Books. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Hagens, N. J. (2020). Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism. Ecological Economics, 169, Article 106520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106520 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hamilton, W. D., & Axelrod, R. (1990). The evolution of cooperation in biological systems. In R. AxelrodEd., The evolution of cooperation (pp. 88–108). Penguin Books. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Henrich, J. (2016). The secret of our success. Princeton University Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Henrich, J., & Muthukrishna, M. (2021). The origins and psychology of human cooperation. Annual Review of Psychology, 72, 204–240. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-081920-042106 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hill, K., Hurtado, A. M., & Walker, R. S. (2007). High adult mortality among Hiwi hunter-gatherers: Implications for human evolution. Journal of Human Evolution, 52(4), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.003 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hrdy, S. B. (2011). Mothers and others: The evolutionary origins of mutual understanding. Harvard University Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Klein, S. A., Hilbig, B. E., & Heck, D. W. (2017). Which is the greater good? A social dilemma paradigm disentangling environmentalism and cooperation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 53, 40–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.06.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Krall, L. (2023). The economic superorganism in the complexity of evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B, 378, Article 20210417. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0417 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kurzban, R., Burton-Chellew, M. N., & West, S. A. (2015). The evolution of altruism in humans. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 575–599. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015355 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Loy, L. S., Reese, G., & Spence, A. (2021). Facing a common human fate: Relating global Identity and climate change mitigation. Political Psychology, 43(3), 563–581. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12781 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Marshall, G. (2015). Don’t even think about it: Why our brains are wired to ignore climate change. Bloomsbury Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Nettle, D., Gibson, M. A., Lawson, D. W., & Sear, R. (2013). Human behavioral ecology: Current research and future prospects. Behavioral Ecology, 24(5), 1031–1040. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ars222 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Newell, P. (2021). The Cambridge sustainability commission on scaling behaviour change. https://www.rapidtransition.org/resources/cambridge-sustainability-commission/ First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Nowak, M. A. (2006). Five rules for the evolution of cooperation. Science, 314(5805), 1560–1563. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1133755 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Okasha, S. (2010). Altruism researchers must cooperate. Nature, 467(7316), 653–655. https://doi.org/10.1038/467653a First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the commons: The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist. Penguin Random House. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Rees, W. E. (2019). End game: The economy as eco-catastrophe and what needs to change. Real-World Economics Review, 87(19 March), 132–148. http://digamoo.free.fr/rwer87.pdf First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Richerson, P., Baldini, R., Bell, A. V., Demps, K., Frost, K., Hillis, V., Mathew, S., Newton, E. K., Naar, N., Newson, L., Ross, C., Smaldino, P. E., Waring, T. M., & Zefferman, M. (2016). Cultural group selection plays an essential role in explaining human cooperation: A sketch of the evidence. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39, Article e30. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X1400106X First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rosenmann, A., Reese, G., & Cameron, J. E. (2016). Social identities in a globalized world: Challenges and opportunities for collective action. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(2), 202–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615621272 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rusch, H. (2014). The evolutionary interplay of intergroup conflict and altruism in humans: A review of parochial altruism theory and prospects for its extension. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, 281, Article 20141539. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1539 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Scheffran, J., Brzoska, M., Brauch, H. G., Link, P. M., & Schilling, J. (2012). Climate change, human security, and violent conflict: Challenges for societal stability. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28626-1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schradin, C. (2021). Corona, climate change, and evolved human behavior. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 36(7), 569–572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.202103.010 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Schulte, M., Bamberg, S., & Rees, J. (2021). We, the change: Outlining research lines of how psychology can contribute to the understanding of societal transition processes. European Psychologist, 26(3), 172–183. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000445 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Seabright, P. (2013). The birth of hierarchy. In K. SterelneyR. JoyceB. CalcottB. FraserEds., Cooperation and its evolution (pp. 109–116). MIT Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Snyder, B. F. (2020). The genetic and cultural evolution of unsustainability Sustainability Science, 15(4), 1087–1099. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-020-00803-z First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sterelny, K. (2021). The Pleistocene social contract: Culture and cooperation in human evolution. Oxford University Press. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tennie, C., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2009). Ratcheting up the ratchet: On the evolution of cumulative culture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B, 364(1528), 2405–2415. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0052 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Tomasello, M. (2019). Becoming human: A theory of ontogeny. Belknap Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2010). Groups in mind: The coalitional roots of war and morality. In H. Høgh-OlesenEd., Human morality and sociality: Evolutionary and comparative perspectives (pp. 191–234). Red Globe Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-05001-4_8 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Turchin, P. (2007). War and peace and war: The rise and fall of empires. Penguin. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Turner, J. H., & Maryanski, A. (2008). Explaining socio-cultural evolution. The limitations of evolutionary theory from biology. Sociologica, 2(3), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.2383/28773 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van Vugt, M., Griskevicius, V., & Schultz, P. W. (2014). Naturally green: Harnessing stone age psychological biases to foster environmental behavior. Social Issues and Policy Review, 8(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12000 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wallis, H., Bamberg, S., Schulte, M., & Matthies, E. (2021). Empowering people to act for a better life for all: Psychology’s contributions to a social science for sustainability. European Psychologist, 26(3), 184–194. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000436 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Waring, T. M., & Wood, Z. T. (2021). Long-term gene–culture coevolution and the human evolutionary transition. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, 288, Article 20210538. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0538 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Whiten, A., & van der Waal, E. (2017). Social learning, culture, and the ‘socio-cultural brain’ of human and non-human primates. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 82, 58–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.018 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wiedmann, T., Lenzen, M., Keyßer, L. T., & Steinberger, J. K. (2020). Scientists’ warning on affluence. Nature Communications, 11, Article 3107. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16941-y First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wrangham, R. W., & Glowacki, L. (2012). Intergroup aggression in chimpanzees and war in nomadic hunter-gatherers: Evaluating the chimpanzee model. Human Nature, 23(1), 5–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-012-9132-1 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar