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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Iron Law Of Selfishness: Response To A Comment By Alexander Field, Ted Bergstrom
The Iron Law Of Selfishness: Response To A Comment By Alexander Field, Ted Bergstrom
Ted C Bergstrom
Alexander Field was not convinced of a result that I claimed in my JEP 2001 paper that in "haystack models" with non-assortative mating, if the number of descendants of founding group members is determined by an n-player prisoners' dilemma game, then the population will converge to a population of defectors. He thought that the result applied only if the groups were large. I respond with a more detailed discussion and show how the result works even when groups have only two members.
Evolution Of Social Behavior: Individual And Group Selection, Ted Bergstrom
Evolution Of Social Behavior: Individual And Group Selection, Ted Bergstrom
Ted C Bergstrom
How selfish does our evolutionary history suggest that humans will be? We explore models in which groups are formed and dissolved and where reproduction of individuals is determined by their payoffs in a game played within groups. If groups are formed ``randomly'' and reproductive success of group founders is determined by a multi-person prisoners' dilemma game, then selfish behavior will prevail over maximization of group payoffs. However, interesting models exist in which ``group selection'' sustains cooperative behavior. Forces that support cooperative behavior include assortative matching in groups, group longevity, and punishment-based group norms.
On The Evolution Of Altruistic Ethical Rules For Siblings, Ted Bergstrom
On The Evolution Of Altruistic Ethical Rules For Siblings, Ted Bergstrom
Ted C Bergstrom
This paper explores the evolutionary foundations of altruism among siblings and extends biologists' kin-selection theory to a richer class of games between relatives. It shows that a population will resist invasion by dominant mutant genes if individuals maximize a "semi-Kantian" utility function in games with their siblings. It is shown that a population that resists invasion by dominant mutants may be invaded by recessive mutants. Conditions are found under which a population resists invasion by dominant and also by recessive mutants. (JEL C70, D10, D63)
How Altruism Can Prevail In An Evolutionary Environment, Ted Bergstrom, Oded Stark
How Altruism Can Prevail In An Evolutionary Environment, Ted Bergstrom, Oded Stark
Ted C Bergstrom
This paper considers a series of examples in which evolution supports cooperative behavior in single-shot prisoners' dilemma. Examples include genetic inheritance for asexual siblings and for sexual diploid siblings. We also study two models of ``cultural inheritance''; one in which siblings copy either their parents or an extrafamilial role model and one in which neighbors arrayed along a circular road copy successful neighbors. Finally, we consider a model in which parents choose their behavior, realizing that it may be imitated by their children. A unifying principle of these models is that cooperative behavior more is likely to be sustained in …