We aren't the world

Joe Hendrich ran a couple "standard" economic experiments across the globe, and found that Americans and developed societies responded in ways that were different from some of the indigenous. An excerpt on the ultimatum game:

“It just seemed ridiculous to the Machiguenga that you would reject an offer of free money,” says Henrich. “They just didn’t understand why anyone would sacrifice money to punish someone who had the good luck of getting to play the other role in the game.”

The results are shaking the foundations of psychology and economics—and hoping to change the way social scientists think about human behavior and culture. Read more in Pacific Standard. (Thanks, +Alessia Bhargava)