Focusing on the success of other people can cause us to be more selfish in our day to day lives, new research claims.
According to a newly published study from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, seeing other people in a stronger position is more likely to result in people taking actions that improve their own standing.
The research was inspired by the theory that increased cooperation between groups of humans has led to the dominance of our species, with scientists asking the question: 'What do we base our decisions on when we know whatever we do will affect those around us?'
Dr Molleman, from the Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, said: "The question that our research tries to answer is: 'How do people make decisions when their actions can affect the welfare of others?' More specifically, we want to know how people determine their behaviour when they have to cooperate in groups."
According to the study, published earlier this week in the academic journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, claimed that cooperation is of interest to both the natural and social sciences.
Biologists wonder how the practice could have evolved by natural selection why psychologists and economists try to understand why many people are willing to sacrifice their own welfare to benefit their social environment.
To reach the conclusions, 200 participants were invited to a computer lab at the University of Groningen. They were asked to make decisions that benefited themselves or other people. Groups that were aware of the success of others were more likely to make more selfish decisions to increase their own standing.
However, Dr Molleman warned that the decisions rarely paid off, since those that cooperated ended up in a stronger position than those who chose selfish decisions by the end of the experiment.