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Ownership psychology and group size

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2023

Michael T. Dale*
Affiliation:
Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Department of Philosophy, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden Sydney, VA, USA mdale@hsc.edu

Abstract

Human group size seemingly has no limit, with many individuals living alongside thousands – even millions – of others. Non-human primate groups, on the other hand, cannot be sustained past a certain, relatively small size. I propose that Pascal Boyer's model of ownership psychology may offer an explanation for such a significant divergence.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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