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Cited by 1,889Evolutionary Game Theory and CooperationAnimal Behavior and ReproductionEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 184 of the 187 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Social semantics: altruism, cooperation, mutualism, strong reciprocity and group selection.

WEST, S. A., GRIFFIN, A. S., GARDNER, A.·2007·Journal of Evolutionary Biology
DOI 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01258.x
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Abstract

From an evolutionary perspective, social behaviours are those which have fitness consequences for both the individual that performs the behaviour, and another individual. Over the last 43 years, a huge theoretical and empirical literature has developed on this topic. However, progress is often hindered by poor communication between scientists, with different people using the same term to mean different things, or different terms to mean the same thing. This can obscure what is biologically important, and what is not. The potential for such semantic confusion is greatest with interdisciplinary research. Our aim here is to address issues of semantic confusion that have arisen with research on the problem of cooperation. In particular, we: (i) discuss confusion over the terms kin selection, mutualism, mutual benefit, cooperation, altruism, reciprocal altruism, weak altruism, altruistic punishment, strong reciprocity, group selection and direct fitness; (ii) emphasize the need to distinguish between proximate (mechanism) and ultimate (survival value) explanations of behaviours. We draw examples from all areas, but especially recent work on humans and microbes.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01258.x

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Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. Alcock J., 1989, Animal Behavior
  2. Emlen S.T., 1997, Behavioural Ecology, 228
  3. Futuyma D.J., 2005, Evolution
  4. Maynard Smith J., 2003, Animal Signals
  5. 10.1111/j.0014-3820.2004.tb01672.x · DOI
  6. Ridley M., 2004, Evolution
  7. Rose M.R., 1996, Adaptation
  8. Trivers R.L., 1985, Social Evolution
  9. Trivers R.L., 1998, As they would do to you, Skeptic, 6, 81
  10. Wilson E.O., 1975, Sociobiology

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Metadata

Authors
WEST, S. A., GRIFFIN, A. S., & GARDNER, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
  • Queen's University (CA)
Corresponding author
WEST, S. A.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Evolutionary Biology
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2006-10-16
Volume
20
Issue
2
Pages
415-432
ISSN
  • 1010-061X (ISSN-L)
  • 1420-9101
DOI
10.1111/j.1420-9101.2006.01258.x
OpenAlex
W2124337033
Cited by
1,889
References
187
Citations by year
2026: 35 · 2025: 66 · 2024: 82 · 2023: 75 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 114 · 2020: 72 · 2019: 102 · 2018: 105 · 2017: 75 · 2016: 97 · 2015: 103 · 2014: 104 · 2013: 95 · 2012: 106
FWCI
29.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Journal of Evolutionary Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Korea Institute of Energy Research
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
social semantics, cooperation, altruism, mutualism, strong reciprocity, group selection, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, altruistic punishment, direct fitness, proximate and ultimate explanations, social behavior, human evolution, microbial evolution, terminology confusion
MeSH terms
Altruism, Animals, Cooperative Behavior, Biological Evolution, Humans, Terminology as Topic, Social Behavior

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