Spite and the scale of competition.

In recent years there has been a large body of theoretical work examining how local competition can reduce and even remove selection for altruism between relatives. However, it is less well appreciated that local competition favours selection for spite, the relatively neglected ugly sister of altrui...

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Main Authors: Gardner, A, West, SA
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2004
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author Gardner, A
West, SA
author_facet Gardner, A
West, SA
author_sort Gardner, A
collection OXFORD
description In recent years there has been a large body of theoretical work examining how local competition can reduce and even remove selection for altruism between relatives. However, it is less well appreciated that local competition favours selection for spite, the relatively neglected ugly sister of altruism. Here, we use extensions of social evolution theory that were formulated to deal with the consequences for altruism of competition between social partners, to illustrate several points on the evolution of spite. Specifically, we show that: (i) the conditions for the evolution of spite are less restrictive than previously assumed; (ii) previous models which have demonstrated selection for spite often implicitly assumed local competition; (iii) the scale of competition must be allowed for when distinguishing different forms of spite (Hamiltonian vs. Wilsonian); (iv) local competition can enhance the spread of spiteful greenbeards; and (v) the theory makes testable predictions for how the extent of spite should vary dependent upon population structure and average relatedness.
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spelling oxford-uuid:10364665-affe-41d3-ad09-4b819046034a2022-03-26T09:55:21ZSpite and the scale of competition.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:10364665-affe-41d3-ad09-4b819046034aEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2004Gardner, AWest, SAIn recent years there has been a large body of theoretical work examining how local competition can reduce and even remove selection for altruism between relatives. However, it is less well appreciated that local competition favours selection for spite, the relatively neglected ugly sister of altruism. Here, we use extensions of social evolution theory that were formulated to deal with the consequences for altruism of competition between social partners, to illustrate several points on the evolution of spite. Specifically, we show that: (i) the conditions for the evolution of spite are less restrictive than previously assumed; (ii) previous models which have demonstrated selection for spite often implicitly assumed local competition; (iii) the scale of competition must be allowed for when distinguishing different forms of spite (Hamiltonian vs. Wilsonian); (iv) local competition can enhance the spread of spiteful greenbeards; and (v) the theory makes testable predictions for how the extent of spite should vary dependent upon population structure and average relatedness.
spellingShingle Gardner, A
West, SA
Spite and the scale of competition.
title Spite and the scale of competition.
title_full Spite and the scale of competition.
title_fullStr Spite and the scale of competition.
title_full_unstemmed Spite and the scale of competition.
title_short Spite and the scale of competition.
title_sort spite and the scale of competition
work_keys_str_mv AT gardnera spiteandthescaleofcompetition
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