Definition
A prediction from Hamilton’s rule that altruism is more likely the more related the beneficiary is to the actor/donor. Here we briefly discuss the theoretical reasoning and focus on the empirical support for this prediction in humans.
Introduction
In the most general sense, cooperation occurs when one individual helps another. In evolutionary terms, helping means increasing the lifetime reproductive success of another individual. Genes are selected to produce behaviors that tend to increase their frequency in the population. They can do this via two routes, by inducing behaviors that increase either the reproductive success of their bearer (direct fitness), or the reproductive success of other individuals that tend to carry the same gene (indirect fitness). Hamilton realized this and that therefore natural selection, operating on genes, will lead to individuals that appear...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Borgerhoff Mulder, M. (2007). Hamilton’s rule and Kin competition: The Kipsigis case. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(5), 299–312. doi:10.1016/J.Evolhumbehav.2007.05.009.
Bowles, S., & Posel, D. (2005). Genetic relatedness predicts south African migrant workers’ remittances to their families. Nature, 434, 380–383.
Burnstein, E., Crandall, C., & Kitayama, S. (1994). Some neo-Darwinian decision rules for altruism - weighing cues for inclusive fitness as a function of the biological importance of the decision. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(5), 773–789. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.5.773.
Burton-Chellew, M. N., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (2015). Hamilton’s rule predicts anticipated social support in humans. Behavioral Ecology, 26(1), 130–137. doi:10.1093/beheco/aru165.
Korchmaros, J. D., & Kenny, D. A. (2001). Emotional closeness as a mediator of the effect of genetic relatedness on altruism. Psychological Science, 12(3), 262–265. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00348.
Kurzban, R., Burton-Chellew, M. N., & West, S. A. (2015). The Evolution of altruism in humans. Annual Review of Psychology, 66(66), 575–599. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015355.
Lieberman, D., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2007). The architecture of human kin detection. Nature, 445(7129), 727–731. doi:10.1038/Nature05510.
Madsen, E. A., Tunney, R. J., Fieldman, G., Plotkin, H. C., Dunbar, R. I. M., Richardson, J. M., & McFarland, D. (2007). Kinship and altruism: A cross-cultural experimental study. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 339–359. doi:10.1348/000712606x129213.
Smith, M. S., Kish, B. J., & Crawford, C. B. (1987). Inheritance of wealth as human kin investment. Ethology and Sociobiology, 8(3), 171–182. doi:10.1016/0162-3095(87)90042-2.
Stewart-Williams, S. (2007). Altruism among kin vs. nonkin: Effects of cost of help and reciprocal exchange. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(3), 193–198. doi:10.1016/J.Evolhumbehav.2007.01.002.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Burton-Chellew, M. (2017). Cooperation Varies with Genetic Relatedness. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1507-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1507-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences