| More than half the world's population lives in cities. Cities represent an environment very different from those humans lived in previously, placing our evolved social adaptations in a novel context. This dissertation probes how these capacities and tendencies of our species interact with urban settings, primarily focusing on prosociality (i.e. positive social behavior), using Binghamton, NY as a laboratory. This broad research focus requires the integration of four main literatures: evolutionary theory, social psychology, sociology, and experimental economics (Chapter I).;There are three main research programs addressed in the dissertation, the first regarding adolescent prosocial development. Evolutionary models on prosociality suggest that it is a trait that can only be adaptive when people's social partners are also prosocial. This axiom suggests that prosociality should be higher in those urban adolescents who receive greater social support from adults, and live in neighborhoods whose residents have a strong community. Survey studies done with students from the Binghamton City School District support both hypotheses in a cross-sectional sample (Chapter II), but only the former held for longitudinal analyses (Chapter III).;The second program of research is on the development of social attitudes during resource interactions. A feature that promotes prosociality is the presence of advantages to cooperation within the environment, which in urban lifestyles may be reflected by low access to financial resources. Other features of urban neighborhoods may teach economic fairness, for example the presence of small businesses within a neighborhood. Measuring social preferences by playing an experimental economics "game" with students at Binghamton High School, each of these hypotheses is supported (Chapter IV).;The third program of research is on how urban landscapes influence social attitudes and behaviors. Chapter V contains three studies that ask individuals to respond to images of unfamiliar neighborhoods from across Binghamton. Using data from Chapter II, we find that individuals make accurate assessments of neighborhood safety, and are less trusting when playing an experimental economic game with residents of neighborhoods that are rated as unsafe. Finally, we identify physical maintenance as the primary determinant of the responses provided by naive raters. |
