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Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Behavioral game theory; Cooperation; Evolutionary psychology; Reciprocity; Theory of mind

Definition

Evolution of reciprocal altruism studies the evolutionary basis of cooperation within evolutionary agents (here special focus on Homo sapiens)

Introduction

Humans (Homo sapiens) are arguably the most cooperative primates (Smith 2003). We display unique characteristics such as cooperating on tasks with non-kin members in large groups across cultures (Tomasello et al. 2005). Human cooperation studies have gathered wide interest from psychologists, evolutionary anthropologists, behavioral ecologists, economists, etc. Humans, therefore, make an interesting case study for reciprocal altruism. In the face of theoretical puzzles around reciprocal altruism, the scale of human cooperative societies seems particularly defiant.

Cooperation in Humans

One common explanation for this seemingly abnormal scale of cooperation was the existence of social norms and the ability to understand...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Chinmay Aradhye

Authors
  1. Chinmay Aradhye
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chinmay Aradhye .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Nicole Barbaro

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Aradhye, C. (2016). Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1222-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1222-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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