An interesting article I came across recently, by an economist named Friederike Habermann, argues that we do not innately think of our own self-interest, but are actively conditioned to behave in egoistic ways by material incentives. The studies recounted herein involve two- and three-year-old children, who are exposed to a situation where they are given the chance to help an adult with a minor task. The control group is given no positive feedback for helping; the second group is given praise; the third group is given a toy or a piece of candy.
Iterated tests reveal that the control and second groups continue to help the adult with the minor task; the third group, however, does not help with the task unless the reward is offered again.
Personally I find this very interesting, as it suggests psychologically that there is nothing inevitable about capitalist modes of exchange, and it also suggests that our behaviours are malleable in both directions - in similar studies among adults, business majors and economists were more susceptible to resorting to egoistic behaviour and uncooperative strategies, suggesting that such behaviour has to be consistently inculcated through societal influence or indoctrination.
Thoughts?