Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism

<p dir="ltr">The literature on cooperation acknowledges different forms of cooperation and their corresponding forms of reciprocity. This paper goes further and shows that most of these different forms are indeed distinct types; hence, the terms “cooperation” and “reciprocity” are po...

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Main Author: Elias L. Khalil (20518877) (author)
Published: 2025
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author Elias L. Khalil (20518877)
author_facet Elias L. Khalil (20518877)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Elias L. Khalil (20518877)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025-04-24T00:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.1007/s12124-025-09906-7
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Taxonomy_of_Cooperation_and_Reciprocity_Beyond_Interdisciplinary_Social_Science_Imperialism/28861244
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Economics
Applied economics
Human society
Anthropology
Political science
Sociology
Philosophy and religious studies
Applied ethics
Philosophy
Religious studies
Psychology
Social and personality psychology
Cultural Norms (anthropology)
Efficiency (economics)
Power (political science)
Social Roles (sociology)
Divided-Psyche (psychology)
Beneficence
Quid Pro Quo
Intertemporal Allocation
Altruism
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p dir="ltr">The literature on cooperation acknowledges different forms of cooperation and their corresponding forms of reciprocity. This paper goes further and shows that most of these different forms are indeed distinct types; hence, the terms “cooperation” and “reciprocity” are portmanteau. This paper proposes a taxonomy of ten types: i) <i>quid pro quo</i>; ii) intertemporal allocation; iii) altruism; iv) formal obligations (justice); v) informal obligations (repayment of favors); vi) gifts; vii) allegiance; viii) hegemony; ix) grants; and x) philanthropy. Nonetheless, “beneficence”, defined as the promotion of the good, is common to all ten types. The promotion of the good entails actions that are free from i) opportunism and deception; ii) self-aggrandizement; and iii) malevolence (envy, schadenfreude, etc.). One payoff of the proposed ten-type taxonomy of cooperation/reciprocity is the delineation of five disciplines: anthropology, economics, political science, sociology, and psychology. Each discipline is suitable for the study of one or two types of cooperation/reciprocity. This raises a question: how does each discipline conceive of the other types appropriate for adjacent disciplines? This paper finds that each discipline effectively <i>sculptures</i> the other types after its own preconceived mode of conception (toolkit)—amounting to “interdisciplinary social science imperialism.” The proposed ten-type taxonomy promises a transdisciplinary platform that is impartial, i.e., able to help researchers avoid interdisciplinary imperialism. This payoff shows the possibility of unifying the social sciences without interdisciplinary imperialism, i.e., reducing all types of cooperation/reciprocity to one’s favored preconceived toolkit.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s15010-020-01480-x" target="_blank">http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s15010-020-01480-x</a></p>
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network_acronym_str Manara2
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spelling Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science ImperialismElias L. Khalil (20518877)EconomicsApplied economicsHuman societyAnthropologyPolitical scienceSociologyPhilosophy and religious studiesApplied ethicsPhilosophyReligious studiesPsychologySocial and personality psychologyCultural Norms (anthropology)Efficiency (economics)Power (political science)Social Roles (sociology)Divided-Psyche (psychology)BeneficenceQuid Pro QuoIntertemporal AllocationAltruism<p dir="ltr">The literature on cooperation acknowledges different forms of cooperation and their corresponding forms of reciprocity. This paper goes further and shows that most of these different forms are indeed distinct types; hence, the terms “cooperation” and “reciprocity” are portmanteau. This paper proposes a taxonomy of ten types: i) <i>quid pro quo</i>; ii) intertemporal allocation; iii) altruism; iv) formal obligations (justice); v) informal obligations (repayment of favors); vi) gifts; vii) allegiance; viii) hegemony; ix) grants; and x) philanthropy. Nonetheless, “beneficence”, defined as the promotion of the good, is common to all ten types. The promotion of the good entails actions that are free from i) opportunism and deception; ii) self-aggrandizement; and iii) malevolence (envy, schadenfreude, etc.). One payoff of the proposed ten-type taxonomy of cooperation/reciprocity is the delineation of five disciplines: anthropology, economics, political science, sociology, and psychology. Each discipline is suitable for the study of one or two types of cooperation/reciprocity. This raises a question: how does each discipline conceive of the other types appropriate for adjacent disciplines? This paper finds that each discipline effectively <i>sculptures</i> the other types after its own preconceived mode of conception (toolkit)—amounting to “interdisciplinary social science imperialism.” The proposed ten-type taxonomy promises a transdisciplinary platform that is impartial, i.e., able to help researchers avoid interdisciplinary imperialism. This payoff shows the possibility of unifying the social sciences without interdisciplinary imperialism, i.e., reducing all types of cooperation/reciprocity to one’s favored preconceived toolkit.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s15010-020-01480-x" target="_blank">http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s15010-020-01480-x</a></p>2025-04-24T00:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.1007/s12124-025-09906-7https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Taxonomy_of_Cooperation_and_Reciprocity_Beyond_Interdisciplinary_Social_Science_Imperialism/28861244CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/288612442025-04-24T00:00:00Z
spellingShingle Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
Elias L. Khalil (20518877)
Economics
Applied economics
Human society
Anthropology
Political science
Sociology
Philosophy and religious studies
Applied ethics
Philosophy
Religious studies
Psychology
Social and personality psychology
Cultural Norms (anthropology)
Efficiency (economics)
Power (political science)
Social Roles (sociology)
Divided-Psyche (psychology)
Beneficence
Quid Pro Quo
Intertemporal Allocation
Altruism
status_str publishedVersion
title Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
title_full Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
title_fullStr Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
title_full_unstemmed Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
title_short Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
title_sort Taxonomy of Cooperation and Reciprocity: Beyond Interdisciplinary Social Science Imperialism
topic Economics
Applied economics
Human society
Anthropology
Political science
Sociology
Philosophy and religious studies
Applied ethics
Philosophy
Religious studies
Psychology
Social and personality psychology
Cultural Norms (anthropology)
Efficiency (economics)
Power (political science)
Social Roles (sociology)
Divided-Psyche (psychology)
Beneficence
Quid Pro Quo
Intertemporal Allocation
Altruism