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Humans are incredibly cooperative, but why do people cooperate and how is cooperation maintained? A new research study by UCLA anthropology professor Robert Boyd and his colleagues from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico suggests cooperation in large groups is maintained by punishment.

In a larger group, members experience the benefits of the large group, even those members who stop cooperating and become "free-riders." Free-riders benefit from the group in food sharing and protection, without contributing to food collection or war. The personal connection to the group's members is often gone.

But it turns out that most members of large groups cooperate. Why? Boyd and his colleagues suggest cooperation is maintained by punishment, which reduces the benefits to free riding. Tribes punish members who do not cooperate, depriving them of societal benefits, which leads to increased group cooperation.

http://www.physorg.com/news191860413.html