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A theory of group selection.
Open accessAbstract
In organisms possessing a dispersal phase the processes of mating, competition, feeding, and predation are often carried out within "trait-groups," defined as populations enclosed in areas smaller than the boundaries of the deme. A simple model shows that this can lead to the selection of "altruistic" traits that favor the fitness of the group over that of the individual. The extent of group selection that occurs depends mainly on the variation in the composition of genotypes between trait-groups. The traditional concepts of group and individual selection are seen as two extremes of a continuum, with systems in nature operating over the interval in between.
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“Wilson constructed his trait group model (TGM, structured deme model) [39,90] to demonstrate that group selection at the supraindividual level can lead to the coexistence of altruistic individuals with inferior fitness compared to more selfish, opportunistic ones.”
From Ecology and Evolution in the RNA World Dynamics and Stability of Prebiotic Replicator Systems (2017) · cites this paper as [39]
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“People are nicer to others if third parties were nicer to them.”
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“In particular, the image score of potential recipients correlates well with their expectation to actually receive money 58 .”
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“In experimental situations which are not based on rigid networks, the decisions of donors also tend to mirror their own recent experience 58,63 .”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wilson, D. S.
- Corresponding author
- Wilson, D S
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 1975-01
- Volume
- 72
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 143-146
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC432258
- OpenAlex
- W2087169316
- Cited by
- 1,259
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 75 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 40 · 2018: 65 · 2017: 32 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 30
- FWCI
- 74.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- group selection, altruism, dispersal, demes, individual selection, kin selection, evolutionary theory, predation and competition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Ecology, Biological Evolution, Gene Frequency, Genetics, Population, Genotype, Mathematics, Models, Biological, Selection, Genetic, Genetic Variation
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