This blog post examines why human selfish behavior persists and how spatial structures influence such actions.
We know altruistic behavior is socially desirable, while selfish actions are unacceptable. This aligns with our historical background of forming larger communities and surviving through mutual aid and cooperation. People typically grow up receiving sacrifices or help from others, or witness someone’s sacrifice, naturally internalizing these values. Therefore, we view actions that harm the community’s benefit—namely, ‘selfish’ behavior that prioritizes one’s own interests over others’—as problematic. The negative consequences of selfish behavior impact everything from small-scale to large-scale contexts, affecting relationships between individuals and society as a whole.
This is why we feel anger when encountering news or newspaper reports about corrupt officials taking bribes, companies deceiving customers about product ingredients, or captains abandoning passengers on a sinking cruise ship. These acts go beyond mere personal gain; they harm others and undermine social trust. Thus, while we condemn selfish actions and hope they never recur, such behavior persists incessantly in human society. Why, then, does this behavior continue? Why doesn’t human selfishness disappear entirely?
One theory offering an answer to this question is the “spatial structure effect.” The Spatial Structure Effect is the concept that human behavior is influenced by physical spatial arrangements, gaining attention in fields like psychology and sociology. Here, ‘spatial structure’ refers to the distance between individuals and members of society—that is, the physical or psychological distance between people who can interact. This demonstrates that human behavior can be significantly influenced not only by personal character or intent but also by the surrounding environment, particularly spatial elements.
For example, consider a society of 100 people. The distance between any two individuals varies greatly depending on how they are arranged. If they are placed in a 10×10 grid, the people closest to any given individual would be their immediate neighbors in the four cardinal directions, with others being progressively farther away. Conversely, an extreme arrangement could place every member directly adjacent to each other. This resembles a wide-area communication network—the internet—where one interacts in real-time with a vast, dispersed multitude. Each spatial structure thus defines the physical distance to reach a specific person, and this distance becomes a factor determining the frequency and density of human interaction.
So why does the spatial structure effect influence human behavior? Because physical distance determines the quality and quantity of interaction among members of a society. Recall the two spatial structures mentioned earlier. In a grid-like arrangement, the farther apart individuals are, the greater the effort required to approach and interact with each other. Conversely, when all members are neighbors, interacting with anyone requires the same level of effort. Applying this to interactions between members of a society, one can easily imagine how this difference in distance affects the quality and quantity of interaction.
Now, let’s explain an example of selfish behavior through the spatial structure effect. The captain of a sinking cruise ship faces two choices: one is to remain at his post until all passengers have evacuated the sinking vessel, and the other is to abandon them and escape alone. According to social norms, the former is classified as altruistic behavior, while the latter is selfish. Naturally, society expects the captain to remain until the end, helping passengers escape. However, the reason the captain might abandon passengers and escape could stem from the cruise ship’s spatial structure. In the specific situation of a sinking cruise ship, the captain can only interact with nearby crew members and passengers, and through limited communication. That is, confined within a spatial structure that limits interaction with the distant public or society as a whole, his actions are likely determined within the relationships of the crew members closest to him or a limited number of passengers, rather than for the entire community.
Conversely, if the sinking were being broadcast live nationwide and the captain knew this, his actions might differ. In this case, the captain would perceive interaction with a spatially distant public, increasing the likelihood of altruistic choices to meet public expectations. While the spatial structure effect creates such differences in interaction, human behavior is ultimately determined by various complex conditions beyond spatial structure.
In conclusion, the spatial structure effect is a significant factor that can influence tendencies toward altruistic or selfish behavior. Theoretically, this allows for slightly greater predictability of human behavior depending on the situation and provides insights into how to design environments to reduce socially selfish behavior and promote altruistic behavior. Since human behavior is not solely determined by personal characteristics but is significantly influenced by the environment and the manner of interaction, establishing appropriate social and physical spatial structures can foster more desirable social behavior.
