Group Competition, Reproductive Leveling, and the Evolution of Human Altruism
Abstract
Humans behave altruistically in natural settings and experiments. A possible explanation—that groups with more altruists survive when groups compete—has long been judged untenable on empirical grounds for most species. But there have been no empirical tests of this explanation for humans. My empirical estimates show that genetic differences between early human groups are likely to have been great enough so that lethal intergroup competition could account for the evolution of altruism. Crucial to this process were distinctive human practices such as sharing food beyond the immediate family, monogamy, and other forms of reproductive leveling. These culturally transmitted practices presuppose advanced cognitive and linguistic capacities, possibly accounting for the distinctive forms of altruism found in our species.
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Cultural practices of reducing differences in reproductive success, e.g. by food sharing, could have led to genetic group differences strong enough to allow for group-selection, given intergroup competition and despite between-group migration.
“Moreover, cultural practices of reducing differences in reproductive success, e.g. by food sharing, could have led to genetic group differences strong enough to allow for group-selection, given intergroup competition and despite of between-group migration (Bowles, 2006).”
From Durkheim, Indoctrinability and the Moral Ambivalence of Human Sociality (2026) · cites this paper as Bowles, 2006
The efficiency of cultural transmission has not yet been the focus of these studies.
“However, the efficiency of cultural transmission has not yet been the focus of these studies.”
From Durkheim, Indoctrinability and the Moral Ambivalence of Human Sociality (2026) · cites this paper as Bowles, 2006
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- Authors
- Bowles, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Siena (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Bowles, Samuel
- ORCID
- Bowles, Samuel
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2006-12-08
- Volume
- 314
- Issue
- 5805
- Pages
- 1569-1572
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2062414996
- Cited by
- 604
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 45 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 57
- FWCI
- 100.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (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
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Keywords
- altruism, evolution of altruism, intergroup competition, food sharing, monogamy, cultural transmission, group selection
- MeSH terms
- Altruism, Archaeology, Climate, Competitive Behavior, Cultural Evolution, Biological Evolution, Genetics, Population, Group Processes, Humans, Mathematics, Models, Theoretical, Population Dynamics, Reproduction, Selection, Genetic, Genetic Variation, Violence, Warfare
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