The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism
Abstract
A model is presented to account for the natural selection of what is termed reciprocally altruistic behavior. The model shows how selection can operate against the cheater (non-reciprocator) in the system. Three instances of altruistic behavior are discussed, the evolution of which the model can explain: (1) behavior involved in cleaning symbioses; (2) warning cries in birds; and (3) human reciprocal altruism. Regarding human reciprocal altruism, it is shown that the details of the psychological system that regulates this altruism can be explained by the model. Specifically, friendship, dislike, moralistic aggression, gratitude, sympathy, trust, suspicion, trustworthiness, aspects of guilt, and some forms of dishonesty and hypocrisy can be explained as important adaptations to regulate the altruistic system. Each individual human is seen as possessing altruistic and cheating tendencies, the expression of which is sensitive to developmental variables that were selected to set the tendencies at a balance appropriate to the local social and ecological environment.
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“This orientation towards relational repair echoes the logic of reciprocal altruism (Trivers, 1971) and aligns with evidence that peer-norm interventions can shift behaviour at scale.”
From Children's perceptions of bullying, exclusion and defending in English primary schools: A qualitative study (2026) · cites this paper as Trivers, 1971
In the citing paper
“evolutionary theories emphasize kinship and reciprocity (42, 43)”
From Volunteerism as a multidimensional form of human prosocial engagement (2026) · cites this paper as [43]
Citations
Cites
The genetical theory of natural selection
Fisher, R. A. (1930) · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.27468 · Cited by 17,617
The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement
Gouldner, A. W. (1960) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2092623 · Cited by 12,001
Deutsch, M. (1958) · Journal of Conflict Resolution · doi:10.1177/002200275800200401 · Cited by 2,077
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Items 201–213 of 213
Self-protection promotes altruism
Chan, E. Y. (2017) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.05.004 · Cited by 26
Walsh, J., Vaida, N., Coman, A., & Fiske, S. T. (2022) · Psychological Science in the Public Interest · doi:10.1177/15291006231161337 · Cited by 26
“Another common strategy for managing social dilemmas is to cooperate with others as long as they cooperate with you (Fehr et al., 2002; Fischbacher et al., 2001; Trivers, 1971).”
BackgroundLearning Reciprocity in Complex Sequential Social Dilemmas
Eccles, T., Hughes, E., Kramár, J., Wheelwright, S., & Leibo, J. Z. (2019) · arXiv · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1903.08082 · Cited by 19
“Innate Ideas as a Naturalistic Source of Metaphysical Knowledge”
Stewart-Williams, S. (2005) · Biology & Philosophy · doi:10.1007/s10539-004-6835-7 · Cited by 16
Tit for Tat in the Dear Enemy Relationship Between Territorial Females of a Cichlid Fish
Sogawa, S., & Kohda, M. (2018) · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.3389/fevo.2018.00044 · Cited by 16
Evolution of conditional cooperation in public good games
Battu, B., & Srinivasan, N. (2020) · Royal Society Open Science · doi:10.1098/rsos.191567 · Cited by 15
Yu, H., Chen, J., Dardaine, B., & Yang, F. (2023) · Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105476 · Cited by 13
Integrating philosophy with anthropology in an approach to morality
Wong, D. B. (2014) · Anthropological Theory · doi:10.1177/1463499614534554 · Cited by 11
Evolution of Cooperation with Heterogeneous Conditional Cooperators
Battu, B., Pammi, V. S. C., & Srinivasan, N. (2018) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22593-2 · Cited by 11
Signalling boosts the evolution of cooperation in repeated group interactions
Martinez-Vaquero, L. A., Santos, F. C., & Trianni, V. (2020) · Journal of The Royal Society Interface · doi:10.1098/rsif.2020.0635 · Cited by 11
Real-life helping behaviours in North America: A genome-wide association approach.
Primes, G., & Fieder, M. (2018) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0190950 · Cited by 4
Pervez, A., Masrani, T., & Pemberton, E. (2026) · School Psychology International · doi:10.1177/01430343261422416
“This orientation towards relational repair echoes the logic of reciprocal altruism (Trivers, 1971) and aligns with evidence that peer-norm interventions can shift behaviour at scale.”
Volunteerism as a multidimensional form of human prosocial engagement
Sarid, O. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1908108
Metadata
- Authors
- Trivers, R. L.
- Corresponding author
- Trivers, Robert L.
- ORCID
- Trivers, Robert L.
- Venue
- The Quarterly Review of Biology
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 1971-03
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 35-57
- ISSN
- 0033-5770 (ISSN-L)
- 1539-7718
- OpenAlex
- W2167030552
- Cited by
- 11,010
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 266 · 2025: 301 · 2024: 423 · 2023: 331 · 2022: 418 · 2021: 511 · 2020: 470 · 2019: 458 · 2018: 445 · 2017: 376 · 2016: 442 · 2015: 453 · 2014: 431 · 2013: 426 · 2012: 433
- FWCI
- 50.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Quarterly Review of Biology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- reciprocal altruism, evolution of cooperation, cheaters, cleaning symbiosis, moral emotions, trust, guilt, dishonesty, hypocrisy
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