No Signs of Inclusive Fitness or Reciprocal Altruism in Advantageous Inequity Aversion

Advantageous inequity aversion (i.e., the tendency to respond negatively to unfairness that benefits oneself) usually develops in 6–8-year-olds. However, little is known about the selection pressures that might have shaped this phenomenon. Using data collected from 120 4–8-year-old Finnish children, we tested two evolutionary explanations for the development of advantageous inequity aversion: reciprocal altruism (i.e., benefiting from sharing when the roles are likely reversed in the future) and inclusive fitness (i.e., benefiting from sharing with biological relatives that carry the same alleles). We asked children to distribute five erasers between themselves, a sibling, a friend, and a stranger. That is, an equal distribution was only possible if throwing away one eraser. First, we successfully replicated a previous experiment, showing that 6–8-year-olds display advantageous inequity aversion by preferring throwing away a resource rather than keeping it for themselves. In our study, this behavior was also displayed in 5-year-olds. Second, we found no support for advantageous inequity aversion being shaped by either inclusive fitness or reciprocal altruism. Future studies could investigate costly signaling and adherence to social norms to avoid negative consequences as ultimate explanations for advantageous inequity aversion.