Non-participant externalities reshape the evolution of altruistic punishment

[2508.08302] Non-participant externalities reshape the evolution of altruistic punishment Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Physics > Physics and Society arXiv:2508.08302 (physics) [Submitted on 7 Aug 2025] Title: Non-participant externalities reshape the evolution of altruistic punishment Authors: Zhao Song , Chen Shen , Valerio Capraro , The Anh Han View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract: While voluntary participation is a key mechanism that enables altruistic punishment to emerge, its explanatory power typically rests on the common assumption that non-participants have no impact on the public good. Yet, given the decentralized nature of voluntary participation, opting out does not necessarily preclude individuals from influencing the public good. Here, we revisit the role of voluntary participation by allowing non-participants to exert either positive or negative impacts on the public good. Using evolutionary analysis in a well-mixed finite population, we find that positive externalities from non-participants lower the synergy threshold required for altruistic punishment to dominate. In contrast, negative externalities raise this threshold, making altruistic punishment harder to sustain. Notably, when non-participants have positive impacts, altruistic punishment thrives only if non-participation is incentivized, whereas under negative impacts, it can persist even when non-participation is discouraged. Our findings reveal that efforts to promote altruistic punishment must account for the active role of non-participants, whose influence can make or break collective outcomes. Subjects: Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) ; Computer Science and Game Theory (cs.GT); Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE) Cite as: arXiv:2508.08302 [physics.soc-ph] (or arXiv:2508.08302v1 [physics.soc-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.08302 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: J. R. Soc. Interface 23(235), 20250820 (2026) Related DOI : https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2025.0820 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources Submission history From: Zhao Song [ view email ] [v1] Thu, 7 Aug 2025 10:10:54 UTC (8,944 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF HTML (experimental) TeX Source view license Current browse context: physics.soc-ph < prev | next > new | recent | 2025-08 Change to browse by: cs cs.GT physics q-bio q-bio.PE References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab) Major funding support from

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