Passions within Reason Frank 1988 Christina Weng November 14, 2008

REPUTATION

Not Saints Guilt Evolution Natural Selection Fine tuning the reward mechanism by making it more sensitive to future rewards and penalties. Establish favorable reputations to further personal interests

The Reputation Argument By not cheating, we acquire good reputations, which provide more benefits than cheating. Sounds good. So what’s the problem?

The Bad-Outcome-Implies-Bad-Decision Fallacy The reputation argument assumes that it is not rational to cheat simply because there is always SOME possibility of being caught. What if the odds of getting caught were low? Whether we actually do get caught or not implies nothing about the quality of our decision.

Reputation and Character Is there a link? Not having a bad reputation ≠ Having an honest reputation Observed actions are not good tests of honesty. Why do we judge so much based on reputation, then? Cheat 50% of time

When we judge honesty based on reputation, we judge not so much on actions as an individual’s self-control and motives. This is based on several important assumptions

Assumptions Dishonest persons tend to cheat even when the odds are against them. The Matching Law and speciousness Those who are merely prudent in their decisions to cheat will eventually be caught.

The Matching Law

Implications of the Matching Law Deterrence from taking the immediate reward Guilt Impulse Control Reputation

The Heart of the Matter We value reputation as a judgment of character because it gives insight to the degree of which people are able to resist immediate rewards. A purely self-interested person will not have enough impulse-control to resist every temptation, and eventually he will be caught. Thus, someone who has not been caught (ie. clean reputation) likely has non-materialistic motives. Impulse control; nonmaterial motivations Assumes that if person never caught cheating, other motivations, keep rationality

Signaling

Properties of Signals between Adversaries Costly to fake Originate for reasons unrelated to signaling Individuals are forced to reveal unfavorable information when others reveal favorable information.

Costly to fake ….or else the signal will lose its credibility

The Derivation Principle “…can there be any edge in looking 5% like a turd?” ---Stephen Jay Gould

The Full Disclosure Principle Lack of evidence that an individual possesses a favorable characteristic suggests it possesses a less favorable one.

Telltale Clues http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/

Darwin’s Take on Emotional Expression Principle of Serviceable Associated Habits Principle of Antithesis Principle of Direct Action of the Nervous System

Your Face An exercise in facial muscle control. Pull the corners of your lips downward without moving your chin Elevate your eyebrows at the center of your brow Raise your eyebrows and pull them together Reliable muscles 10%

Watch out for Microexpressions Eyes Blinking Brightness Blushing Perspiration Voice Emblems

But if you REALLY want to fool someone: Self-Deception Don’t do it too often Hope that others have less than perfect ability to self-deceive Guilt

Will you Cooperate? The Prisoner’s Dilemma

Results

Conclusions Discerning Emotional Predisposition: Reputation (DOES matter because the human reward mechanism is biased toward immediate rewards) Physical and behavioral cues