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Genetic Relatedness Affects Aid to Kin

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Inclusive fitness; Kin selection

Definition

Any two same-sex humans share about 99.9 % of their genes. Family members also share significant portions of the remaining 0.1 %. This shared portion is referred to as genetic relatedness. In reference to a target individual, siblings or parents have a genetic relatedness of r = 0.50; nephews, nieces, aunts, or uncles r = 0.25; and cousins r = 0.125. The level of genetic relatedness is assumed to affect the amount of aid reciprocated by two individuals, everything else being equal.

Introduction

Why do we help our relatives? One could claim that a gene that promotes helping kin should not have been selected for, since it involves a price to the helper. For many years this dilemma was indeed a problem in evolutionary theory. The breakthrough arrived when Hamilton (1964) suggested that in some instances a helper can gain an evolutionary advantage by assisting his or her relatives. Hamilton’s (1964) Kin-selection theory claims that an...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ruppin Academic Center, Emek Hefer, Israel

    Sigal Tifferet

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  1. Sigal Tifferet
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Correspondence to Sigal Tifferet .

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

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Tifferet, S. (2016). Genetic Relatedness Affects Aid to Kin. 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_1484-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1484-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Genetic Relatedness Affects Aid to Kin
    Published:
    16 February 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1484-2

  2. Original

    Genetic Relatedness Affects Aid to Kin
    Published:
    20 September 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1484-1

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