Which one of the following sentences would most logically conclude the final paragraph of the passage?
Katie10on August 9, 2014
Why?
I understand on a sentence level why this sentence could follow. But I am still confused as to why we should turn back to talk about the proposers here. Could someone help me understand why this is right and the other are wrong? Thanks
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We know that the main point of the passage is that though the decision shown by participants in the Ultimatum Game seem to go against self-interest, they most likely stem from a predisposition that has evolutionary value.
Now, what does the final paragraph discuss? We start off with "A more compelling explanation is that our emotional apparatus has been shaped by millions of years of living in small groups, where it is hard to keep secrets (38-41). The passage goes on to explain the social motivations underlying our decisions, e.g. "In real life we expect our friends and neighbors to notice our decisions (42-44)." The discussion then goes to the idea of "fair offers," explaining that "if one regularly receives fair offers when food is divided, one is more likely to survive (49-51)."
The paragraph ends by explaining that our emotional responses to low offers in the Ultimatum Games are based out of our instinctive feeling of "the need to reject dismal offers in order to keep our self-esteem. This self-esteem helps us to acquire a reputation that is beneficial in future encounters." So the paragraph ends on explaining that our responses to low offers stems from keeping our self esteem high, which allows us to gain a reputation that is helpful to us in the future.
Answer choice (C) states: "The instinctive urge to acquire a favorable reputation may also help to explain the desire of many proposers in the Ultimatum Game to make 'fair' offers."
This logically follows our discussion of emotional responses to low offers in order to keep our self-esteem high to gain a favorable reputation for later use. It concludes by reiterating our overarching main point that there is an evolutionary/social reason as to why we have emotional responses to low offers in the Ultimatum Game, and it proposes that this urge to gain a good reputation may explain the desire to make a fair offer (49-51).
Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
