| Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, Vol. 14, Iss. 3, Jul, 2010, pp. 257-264 @2010 Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences The Selfish to Egalitarian Transition in Young Children: Developmental Processes versus Cooperative Interactions Abstract: There is evidence that a tendency to share resources
equitably among members of a social group emerges in middle childhood.
It is regarded by many investigators as a central and unique feature of
human social life. In this work the relative roles of developmental
processes and collective effects generated by interindividual
interactions on the selfish to egalitarian transition observed
in middle childhood are analyzed. Using mathematical modeling,
conditions are identified under which the transition becomes
sharp and gives rise to hysteretic behavior. Keywords: selfish to egalitarian transition, mathematical modeling, cooperative behavior |