Fairness is undoubtedly an essential normative concept in humans and promotes cooperation in human societies. The fact that fairness exists is puzzling, however, because it works against the short-term interest of individuals. Theories of genetic evolution, cultural evolution, and gene-culture coevolution identify plausible mechanisms for the evolution of fairness in humans. Such mechanisms include kin selection, the support of group-beneficial moral norms through ethnic markers, free partner choice with equal outside options, and free partner choice with reputation as well as spite in small populations. Here, we present the results of a common-pool resource game experiment on sharing. Based on data from 37 multiethnic villages in a subsistence agricultural population in Foutah Djallon, Guinea, we show that fair behavior in our experiment increased with increasing ethnic homogeneity and market integration. Group size and kinship had the opposite effect. Overall, fair behavior was not conditional on reputation. Instead, the ability of the different village populations to support individuals’ fairness in situations lacking the opportunity to build a positive reputation varied significantly. Our results suggest that evolutionary theory provides a useful framework for the analysis of fairness in humans.

中文翻译：

---

解释公平：几内亚的一项实验结果。

毫无疑问，公平是人类必不可少的规范概念，它促进了人类社会的合作。但是，存在公平这一事实令人费解，因为它不利于个人的短期利益。遗传进化，文化进化和基因-文化协同进化的理论为人类公平进化确定了合理的机制。这种机制包括亲属选择，通过种族标记来支持团体受益的道德规范，具有相等外部选择的自由伴侣选择，具有声誉以及在少数人群中尽管有声望的自由伴侣选择。在这里，我们介绍了共享的公共池资源游戏实验的结果。根据几内亚Foutah Djallon自给自足农业人口中的37个多民族村庄的数据，我们表明，随着种族同质性和市场整合程度的提高，我们实验中的公平行为也会增加。团体人数和亲属关系相反。总体而言，公平的行为并不以声誉为条件。相反，在缺乏机会建立正面声誉的情况下，不同村庄人口支持个人公平的能力差异很大。我们的结果表明，进化论为人类公平性分析提供了有用的框架。在缺乏机会建立正面声誉的情况下，不同村庄人口支持个人公平的能力差异很大。我们的结果表明，进化论为人类公平性分析提供了有用的框架。在缺乏机会建立正面声誉的情况下，不同村庄人口支持个人公平的能力差异很大。我们的结果表明，进化论为人类公平性分析提供了有用的框架。