Recently, I have become very interested in one oxymoronic form of altruism: altruistic punishment. When a person pays a cost to punish someone who free-rides on a group, the entire group benefits because the free-rider usually starts to cooperate (see for example Fehr & Gächter in Nature, 2002). Punishing free-riders is altruistic because the punisher must pay a cost to do so, yet everyone in the group benefits from the change in the free-rider’s behaviour. Group-selection models are usually invoked to account for the existence of such altruistic punishment (e.g. strong reciprocity), but I am interested in whether within-group mechanisms might select for altruistic punishment. For this reason, I am investigating whether people may receive any social benefits from punishing free-riders, and what form those social benefits might take.
   
            I am also interested in other issues in evolutionary psychology such as cheater-detection, social status, coalitional psychology, fairness, risk-taking, psychopathy, and the evolution of religion. When I’m not following any of these academic pursuits, I am likely pursuing some form of music, either to sing and play or to listen to. If I’m not doing that, I’m probably trying to get out of the city to do some skiing, swimming, hiking, camping, or just general exploring.

Barclay, P., & Daly, M. (2003). Humans should be individualistic and utility-maximizing, but not necessarily “rational”. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 26(2), 154-155.

Barclay, P. (2004). Self-Perceived Social Status and Behaviour in Experimental Social Dilemmas. In preparation

Barclay, P. (2004). Trustworthiness and Competitive Altruism Can Also Solve the “Tragedy of the Commons”. Evolution & Human Behavior, 25, 209-220.

Barclay, P., & Lalumière, M. (2004). Do people differentially remember cheaters? Submitted to Human Nature

Barclay, P. (2004). Altruistic Punishment Has Reputational Benefits For Punishers. Submitted to Biology Letters

Conference Presentations

Barclay, P. (2001). Altruism as a courtship display: Is it actually attractive? Poster presented at the 13^th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior & Evolution Society, University College London, U.K. (June, 2001).

Barclay, P., Daly, M., DeBruine, L., & Wilson, M. (2002). Evolutionary Psychologists Meet Economists. Invited talk in the McMaster University Economics Department, Canada (November, 2002).

Barclay, P. (2003). Tragedy of the Commons, Trustworthiness, and Competitive Altruism. Presentation at the 34^th Annual Ontario Ecology and Ethology Colloquium, McMaster University, Ontario (May, 2003).

Barclay, P. (2003). Self-Perceived Social Status and Behaviour in Experimental Social Dilemmas. Presentation at the Canadian Economics Association Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario (May, 2003).

Barclay, P. (2003). Trustworthiness and Competitive Altruism Can Also Solve the “Tragedy of the Commons”. Presentation at the 15^th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior & Evolution Society, Lincoln, Nebraska (June, 2003). Note: this presentation won the New Investigator Award at this conference..

Barclay, P. & Lalumière, M. (2003). Are Humans Actually Good At Cheater Recall? Maybe Not... Poster presented at the 13^th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science, McMaster University, Ontario (June, 2003).

Barclay, P. (2003). Public Goods, Trustworthiness, and Competing to be Altruistic. Presentation at the International Meeting of the Economic Science Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (June, 2003).

Barclay, P. (2003). New Darwinian Solutions to the “Tragedy of the Commons”. Invited talk at the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Seminar Series, McMaster University, Ontario (October, 2003).

Barclay, P., & Lalumière, M. (2003). Do People Who Score High on Psychopathy Have a Good Memory for Cheaters or Altruists? Does Anyone? Presentation at the 7^th Annual Law & Mental Health Conference, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health, Toronto (November, 2003).

Barclay, P. (2004). Are There Reputation Benefits for the Altruistic Punishment of Free-Riders in a "Tragedy of the Commons?". Presentation at the 35^th Annual Ontario Ecology and Ethology Colloquium,  University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario (May, 2004).

Barclay, P. (2004). Do Altruistic Punishers Receive Social Benefits? Testing for Within-Group Benefits. Presentation at the 16^th Annual Meeting of the Human Behavior & Evolution Society, Free University, Berlin (July, 2004).