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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Halmos Faculty and Student Research the Evolution of Corruption
This summer, Halmos College faculty member Omar Eldakar, Ph.D. and his undergraduate student, biology major Nikhil Nagabandi published an article in the journal Evolutionary Psychology. Their paper, entitled, “Hypocrisy and Corruption: How Disparities in Power Shape the Evolution of Social Control” discusses how an evolutionary game-theoretical model that punishment can effectively evolve and maintain high levels of altruism in the population, yet not all punishment strategies were equally virtuous.
Overall findings provide insights into the importance of oversight, the consequences to changes in the power structure of social systems, and the roots of hypocrisy and corruption in human and animal societies.
Eldakar is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.