Running in a Pack: Group Selection and Economic Reciprocity

Hypothesis and Purpose:
According to the principles of evolution, altruism does not make sense. ÒBy definition, altruists would be expected to have a lower reproductive success than the selfish rivals whom they help. Altruistic behavior should, therefore disappear from the population. It shouldnÕt exist, yet apparently it does,Ó noted Mark Ridley and Richard Dawkins within their article ÒThe Natural Selection of Altruism.Ó Their writings suggest the explanation of Ògroup selection,Ó in which an altruistic group is more likely to survive than a selfish group of people, because altruistic members would give up their lives for the good of the entire group. (Rushton and Sorrentino, 21) Although group selection favors altruism between members within a group, it also favors members within a group causing harm to members of outside groups, and fosters competition both within a group and between members of opposing groups. (Sober and Wilson, 9) Although the theory of group selection does support the idea of true altruism, it also favors harmful actions, therefore creating a bit of a double-edged evolutionary Òsword.Ó Ridley and Dawkins hypothesize that there are three different causes for the evolutionary success of altruism, which include, relatedness, reciprocal altruism, and the ability to manipulate others towards altruistic actions.

The idea of reciprocal altruism is based on the extension and return of service between two or more people, whether in the form of gifts, kindness, sales, or tipping. Interactions such as these are arguably the basis for human economy and social interactions. Life is often a give and take situation, and reciprocal altruism is the glue that binds us together in all of our interactions. The purpose of my project will be to take a look at the concept of reciprocity, in terms of group selection. Through the process of issuing surveys and recording data from my tip jar experiment, I hope to find evidence to suggest whether humans extend their reciprocity more eagerly and generously to others who are within the confines of their Ògroup.Ó

I hypothesize that, through the principle of group selection, humans are naturally inclined to form social circles that are linked together by means of economic reciprocity. Since such factors as population growth, immigration, colonialism, and imperialism have altered most culturs away from the ancestral tribal phenomenon; social circles have become more difficult to define. For the purpose of my project, I will define a social circle as comparable to a bulls-eye, with nuclear family at the center, followed by friends, and acquaintances on the perimeter levels. Not included in a social circle are strangers, outward enemies, or any relations with cause to commit harm against oneself.

Materials and Methods:
Tip Jar Test:
I have a job at Bagel and Deli, a local sandwich shop in Oxford, Ohio. People enter the shop. They order, and I proceed to make them the sandwich of their personal request. After the transaction of goods and money, I usually wish them a good day or night and send them on their way. As they depart from the store, each costumer has the ability to leave some extra cash in the tip jar, upon their free will.

For the past six weeks, I have been monitoring the activity of my tip jar, using the chart below. In order to test my hypothesis that economic reciprocity is linked with group selection, I have arrange all of my customers into groups within my Òsocial circle.Ó These categories include family, friend, acquaintance, and enemy. After labeling these people, I proceeded to monitor their tips.

I have two shifts that are only moderately busy (Sundays and Wednesdays from 5pm-9pm), so that it has been possible to monitor the status of each customer and the amount they tip, often without them even noticing. Also, both of my shifts occur during considerably ÒsoberÓ times of the day and week, so that it is more likely that decisions have not been swayed by judgment altering substances, a likely cause for bigger tips on weekend nights.
During the times I conducted my test, I exercised extreme caution to issue the same caliber of service to all of the costumers I waited on, while simultaneously not disregarding the special connection I hold with particular customers. Following the format of my chart are the standards of serving that did not vary throughout the test:

Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip
Less than $00.50
Less than $1.00
Less than $2.00
Between $2-$5
Above $5.00

1) Smile at all customers
2) Use standard greeting; ÒWhat can I get for you?Ó
3) Make the sandwich requested, provided resources are available
4) Be open to respond in a friendly way if customer wants to chat
5) Charge the standard price of the shop (no deals or free food)
6) Wish them a good day or evening as they leave.

The variables that I did not control when issuing service were the amount of talking the customer wanted to engage in, arbitrary mistakes I might have made, delivery bagels, or the inability to serve what was requested do to resource constraints (i.e. ÒIÕm sorry, we are out of plain.Ó)

After all monetary and goods transactions were carried out (bagel issued, bagel paid for, change issued), and the customer had begun to head for the door, I quickly checked off the boxes on my chart which indicated the amount of tip I had just made, and then proceeded to help the next costumer. When questioned about my Òchart,Ó I responded to customers that I was simply taking ÒinventoryÓ for the store. This response worked quite nicely, with only a few exceptions.

The purpose of this test was to show a trend in relation to the size of the tip I received in comparison with the status of the tipper, either inside or outside of my Òsocial circle.Ó Following is the data that I collected while conducting this six-week period of testing.

WEEK 1:
3/17/02 Sunday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 12
Less than $00.50 10 15
Less than $1.00 4 2
Less than $2.00 2
Between $2-$5 3 1
Above $5.00
Total customers: 49 Total tips $: 14.10 Tippers/ Non: 37/12

3/20/02 Wednesday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 4 10
Less than $00.50 3 5
Less than $1.00 4 6
Less than $2.00 1 2 3
Between $2-$5 2
Above $5.00
Total customers: 40 Total tip $: 16.32 Tippers/Non: 26/14

WEEK 2
3/24/02 Sunday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 2 4 13
Less than $00.50
Less than $1.00 20
Less than $2.00 7
Between $2-$5 3
Above $5.00
Total customers: 49 Total tip: 28.05 Tippers/Non: 30/19
3/27/02 Wednesday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 1 8 11
Less than $00.50
Less than $1.00 5
Less than $2.00 2 6
Between $2-$5
Above $5.00
Total customers: 33 Total tip $: 12:45 Tippers/Non: 13/21

WEEK 3:
3/31/02 Sunday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 2 7 13
Less than $00.50 3 6
Less than $1.00 3 8
Less than $2.00 1
Between $2-$5 5 4
Above $5.00 1
Total customers: 53 Total tips $: 35.08 Tippers/Non: 31/22

4/3/02 Wednesday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 3 7
Less than $00.50 6
Less than $1.00 4 5
Less than $2.00 5
Between $2-$5 1 1
Above $5.00
Total customers: 32 Total tip $: 19.55 Tippers/Non: 22/10

WEEK 4:
4/7/02 Sunday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 2 10
Less than $00.50 4
Less than $1.00 11
Less than $2.00 3
Between $2-$5
Above $5.00 1
Total customers: 31 Total tip$: 13.73 Tippers/Non: 18/13

4/10/02 Wednesday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 2 6 6
Less than $00.50 4
Less than $1.00 1
Less than $2.00 4
Between $2-$5 8
Above $5.00
Total customers: 31 Total tip$: 16.30 Tippers/Non: 17/ 14

WEEK 5:
4/14/02 Sunday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 1 4
Less than $00.50 2 12
Less than $1.00 2 2
Less than $2.00 2 2
Between $2-$5 1
Above $5.00
Total customers: 28 Total tip$: 17.65 Tippers/Non: 23/5

4/17/02 Wednesday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 8
Less than $00.50 3 2 3
Less than $1.00
Less than $2.00 1 1 5
Between $2-$5 2 1 2
Above $5.00
Total customers: 28 Total tip$: 19.50 Tippers/Non: 20/8

WEEK 6:
4/21/02 Sunday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 1 13
Less than $00.50 3 2
Less than $1.00 1 3
Less than $2.00 3 2
Between $2-$5 1 1
Above $5.00
Total customers: 30 Total tip $: 13.10 Tippers/Non: 16/14

4/24/02 Wednesday 5-9
Family Friend Acquaintance Stranger Enemy
No tip 5 3 18
Less than $00.50 5
Less than $1.00 5
Less than $2.00 1 1 2
Between $2-$5
Above $5.00
Total customers: 40 Total tip $: 11.65 Tippers/Non: 15/26

Data Analysis:

The following set of three cell bar charts compare the amount of tips given by each category of costumer. In this chart, no love means no tip, >fifty means less than fifty cents, >one means less than one dollar, >two means less than two dollars, >five means less than five dollars, and >five means more than five dollars. Friends were most likely not to tip, or to give between 2-5 dollars. Acquaintances were most likely not to tip, or to give between 1-2 dollars. Strangers were most likely not to tip, and secondly,. to give 1 dollar Ð 50 cents.

The next set of cell bar charts highlight each category of customer, comparing each tip amount between them. For instance, strangers are much more likely than acquaintances or friends less than a dollar, less than 50 cents, or not to tip at all.

The percentage of 1-2 dollar tips rises steadily from friends to acquaintances to strangers, who are most likely to tip within this value range.

Friends and strangers issue 2-5 dollar tips at about the same frequency. Both tip within this range notably less than acquaintances.

Friends are the only caliber of customer to show evidence of tipping over 5 dollars, with the exception of family. Over the course of my test, only one family member entered the shop (my cousin), tipping over 5 dollars. No perceived enemies have ever shown up either. These two variables, I determined, were not sufficient to add to my data. This makes a 1/1 ratio of family/over 5-dollar tips.

The following percentiles plot suggests that for each 4-hour shift, there were always considerably more tipping than non-tipping customers. For instance, at the 20th percentile, tipping customers were valued at about 17, whereas the non-tippers held only a value of 10. Likewise, at the 80th percentile, the value for tippers was 30 and the value for non-tippers was around 23. This pattern of a higher number of tippers than non-tippers is consistent throughout the plot, as well as the univariate bar chart.


The next percentiles plot depicts the total number of customers compared to the total amount of tips issued, as opposed to tippers versus non-tippers. This illustrates that the overall customer/tip ratio is greater than the tipper/non-tipper ratio. During some shifts, less than half of the customers tipped.

The following plot simply shows that more strangers entered the shop for each shift than friend or customers.

Survey Methods:
To compliment and further enhance my search for the truth about economic reciprocity within social circles, I created a survey addressing these matters. The survey was made of 10 questions, each question with a corresponding set of multiple-choice answers. I issued 90 on-line surveys total, which were randomly dispersed between both main and western campus.
For my method of data analysis, I grouped each multiple-choice answer under the titles of Group Selection, Reciprocity Only, Pure Altruism, and None. I used this as a way of tallying points to either support or reject my hypothesis.
The survey reads as follows (the grouping of each multiple choice answer is listed below, but was not given to the people taking the survey):

1) If you only had .50 cents to spare, to whom would you be most likely to give it?
a. Your mom, who needs to pay the meter so that she doesnÕt get stuck with a $40 parking ticket (Group Selection)
b. Your best friend, who got arrested and is collecting money from his friends for bail (Group Selection)
c. Your professor, who is in the middle of grading your final, but wants to buy some soda. (Reciprocity Only)
d. A homeless man in the street who is asking for change (Pure Altruism)
e. A girl in your chem. Class last semester who told the professor she saw you skipping class to hang out, but needs money now to have an abortion (she is collecting money from everyone) (Pure Altruism)

2) When you feel as though you have been borrowing a lot of money recently, do you:
a. Give back by lending out money when you can, somewhat randomly (Pure Altruism)
b. Seek out the people who have given you money and attempt to somehow repay them (even if it is not through money) (Reciprocity Only)
c. Only pay back those who are closest to you, and the others only if the chance comes about (Group Selection)
d. Stop borrowing and forget about the favors (None)
e. Other (None)

3) When someone asks you for a favor involving the donation of money to his or her cause, assuming you have it to give, what is the most important aspect of your decision?
a. How long you have known this person to be supportive of you. (Group Selection)
b. How dire their cause (Pure Altruism)
c. Whether they are related by blood to you (Group Selection)
d. You donÕt give it (None)
e. Other (None)

4) Your philosophy on tipping is:
a. Always tip if you have money, no matter what (Pure Altruism)
b. Only tip for good service (Reciprocity Only)
c. Tip more if you know the person providing the service (Group Selection)
d. Never tip (None)
e. Other (None)

5) If you were ever in the position where you needed over $100 quickly, you would ask:
a. Your mother, father, sister, or brother (relative) (Group Selection)
b. Best or close friend (Group Selection)
c. Girl you worked with last summer (None)
d. Guy standing behind you in line for the keg at the party (None)
e. Other (None)

6) Would you expect the subject of this favor to feel at ease asking the same thing of you?
a. Yes (Group Selection)
b. No (None)
c. Maybe, based on how many favors (of this nature) theyÕve asked me compared to how many favors (of this nature) IÕve asked them. (Reciprocity Only)

7) Do you remember the last person who loaned you money?
a. Yes (Reciprocity Only)
b. No (None)
c. Only the last time someone loaned me a lot of money (Group Selection)

8) Does your mom/dad make you pay her back?
a. Sometimes (Group Selection)
b. Never (Pure Altruism)
c. Yes (Reciprocity)

9) Do you think economic reciprocity is important in dating?
a. Yes (Reciprocity)
b. No (Pure Altruism)
c. Only if you are in a long term, committed relationship (Group Selection)

10) Which type person is most likely to survive:
a. Someone who gives indiscriminately (Pure Altruism)
b. Someone who makes sure to take care of their own ÒkindÓ before all else (Group Selection)
c. Someone who seeks out their own needs before the needs of others. (None)

Data Analysis:
Following are the exact numbers of answers to each question:
A B C D E
1) 35 45 5 5
2) 11 78 1
3) 90
4) 50 20 20
5) 77 13
6) 84 16 na na
7) 73 17 na na
8) 64 20 6 na na
9) 69 21 na na
10) 33 21 36 na na

The following cell bar chart shows how many times a,b,c,d, and e were answered, which is an overall picture that is of no relation to my hypothesis.

The univariate bar chart below shows that the most answers selected were the ones that were linked with group selection, then reciprocity, and thirdly, pure altruism. Selfish variables, or those that did not correlate with any other aforementioned quality were picked least on this survey.

Results and Conclusion:
I have concluded that my hypothesis was supported by both of my tests. The Tip Jar Experiment showed that, although each group of Friends, Acquaintances, and Strangers were inclined not to tip, Friends were consistently more generous than Acquaintances, and Acquaintances were consistently more generous than Strangers when they did tip out. To support the idea that economic reciprocity does exist within society, my results depict that there were consistently more tippers than non-tippers. The fact that those closer to the center of my social circle tended to tip higher than those on the periphery represents positive evidence justifying the concept that group selection is linked with economic reciprocity. The fact that each group was more inclined not to tip than to tip, regardless of their place within my social circle, was a bit out of context. It could be used to incite commentary about the nature of humans to be selectively reciprocal, giving only when they have the means and the cause. This assertion is difficult to make in lieu of further testing.

The survey results were also supportive of my hypothesis. All of the answers linked with reciprocity and group selection were chosen over those pertaining to pure altruism or none of these categories, by a wide margin.

Some criticism on my methods would be that I did not represent each category equally in each set of answers. Also, I did not issue the survey to anyone outside of the Miami student population, which excludes people of different ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, and racial diversity. Also, I did not take into account the psychology of the college-aged mind, and how at this age one may or may not be more influenced by their peers than at different points in life. Also, it felt a bit awkward classifying groups of people based on their relationships toward me. Perhaps I should have developed a more systematic method of identification of friends, acquaintances, and strangers.

Although these improvements could be made to strengthen my experiment, I think it is safe to say that there seems to be a general trend towards economic reciprocity as a technique for ensuring ones place within a group, and survival within a group is extremely more fitting for evolution than individual endurance.

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