Personalia
Carsten de Dreu, born in Borger, the Netherlands, in 1966. Ph.D. from University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Professor of Organizational Psychology, and Professor of Behavioral Economics at the University of Amsterdam.
Guest of the Rector (1 September 2015 – 30 June 2016)
Parochial Cooperation, Intergroup Conflict, and the Spreading of Innovation
Research Question
Intergroup conflict may have played a key role in the evolution of (neurobiological underpinnings of) cooperation among humans. This may help us understand and predict key (neuro)psychological boundaries to constructive intergroup exchange, trade, and concomitant spreading of innovation. To achieve this, I will draw on insights from various disciplines, including anthropology, neuropsychology, behavioral economics, and evolutionary biology.
Project Description
I aim to (i) flesh out and test a novel tend-and-defend hypothesis about the evolution of (neurobiological underpinnings of) cooperation and the role of intergroup conflict therein, (ii) examine the implications for constructive intergroup exchange, and concomitant spreading of innovation, and (iii) promote interdisciplinary perspective on one of the most pressing societal problems – intergroup conflict, and failures to cooperate – by explicitly merging insights from behavioral sciences (anthropology, psychology, behavioral economics) on the one hand, and life sciences (neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, evolutionary biology) on the others.
Selected Publications
1) Balliet, D., Wu, Y., & De Dreu, C.K.W. (2014). In-group favoritism and cooperation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1556 – 1581.
2) Gelfand, M.J., Leslie, L.M., Keller, K., & De Dreu, C.K.W. (2012). Conflict cultures in organizations: How leaders shape conflict cultures and their organizational-level consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97, 1131-1147
3) De Dreu, C.K.W., Greer, L.L., Handgraaf. M.J.J., Shalvi, S., Van Kleef, G.A., Baas, M., Ten Velden, F.S., Van Dijk, E., & Feith, S.W.W. (2010). The neuropeptide oxytocin regulates parochial altruism in intergroup conflict among humans. Science, 328, 1408 – 1411