Adaptation Theory of Empathy

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Empathic system
• Project/Area Number: 25118006
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies
• Principal Investigator: Ohtsuki Hisashi 総合研究大学院大学, 先導科学研究科, 講師 (50517802)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NAKAMARU Mayuko 東京工業大学, 環境・社会理工学院, 准教授 (70324332)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-06-28 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 共感性 / 進化 / 数理生物学 / 進化ゲーム / 間接互恵性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Negative emotional contagion, which means the contagion of negative emotions such as fear or pain between individuals, can evolve by natural selection if those individuals share similar environments. In contrast, the effect of their genetic similarity on its evolution is marginal. I have also obtained a theoretical prediction that the evolution of emotional contagion should have occurred before the expansion of group size in group-living animals. Reciprocal cooperation based on positive empathy, such as “I will cooperate with a third party because I received help from someone”, can evolve only if such a positive emotional state lasts for a limited period of time. Human conformity sometimes undermines the quality of collective intelligence of a group, but it can promote cooperation.

Free Research Field

数理生物学