Pleasing Enhances Indirect Reciprocity-Based Cooperation Under Private Assessment

Indirect reciprocity is an important mechanism for promoting cooperation among self-interested agents. Simplified, it means “you help me; therefore somebody else will you” (in contrast to direct reciprocity: I you”). can be achieved via reputation and norms. Strategies, such as the so-called leading eight, relying on these principles maintain high levels of remain stable against invasion, even in presence errors. However, this only case if agent modeled a shared public opinion. If agents have private opinions hence disagree whether good or bad, rare errors cause break apart. We show that most strategies overcome assessment problem by applying pleasing. A pleasing acts accordance with others' expectations their behaviour (i.e., them) instead being guided own, assessment. As such, achieve better than previously considered when there disagreement population. Pleasing effective few other individuals are bears additional costs. Finally, through more exhaustive analysis parameter space previous studies, we some eight still function under assessment, i.e., rates well above objective baseline. Yet, supersede formerly described ones enhance cooperation.