Selfish Punishment: Altruism Can be Maintained by Competition Among Cheaters

Omar Tonsi Eldakar; Dene Leo Farrell; David Sloan Wilson

doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.024

Selfish Punishment: Altruism Can be Maintained by Competition Among Cheaters

Omar Tonsi Eldakar
, Dene Leo Farrell
, David Sloan Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

Altruistic punishment refers to a class of behaviors that deters cheating at a cost to the punisher, making it a form of second-order altruism. Usually, it is assumed that the punishers are themselves "solid citizens" who refrain from cheating. We show in a simulation model that altruism and punishment paradoxically become negatively correlated, leading to a form of selfish punishment. Examples of selfish punishment can be found in organisms as diverse as wasps, birds, and humans.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	198-205
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of Theoretical Biology
Volume	249
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.024
State	Published - Nov 1 2007
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Altruism
Cooperation
Public Good
Punishment
Selfish
Public goods

Disciplines

Biology
Life Sciences

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.024License: CC BY

Cite this

@article{a7d82929259a40d78b4923b8db294837,

title = "Selfish Punishment: Altruism Can be Maintained by Competition Among Cheaters",

abstract = " Altruistic punishment refers to a class of behaviors that deters cheating at a cost to the punisher, making it a form of second-order altruism. Usually, it is assumed that the punishers are themselves {"}solid citizens{"} who refrain from cheating. We show in a simulation model that altruism and punishment paradoxically become negatively correlated, leading to a form of selfish punishment. Examples of selfish punishment can be found in organisms as diverse as wasps, birds, and humans.",

keywords = "Altruism, Cooperation, Public Good, Punishment, Selfish, Public goods",

author = "Eldakar, \{Omar Tonsi\} and Farrell, \{Dene Leo\} and Wilson, \{David Sloan\}",

year = "2007",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.024",

language = "American English",

volume = "249",

pages = "198--205",

journal = "Journal of Theoretical Biology",

issn = "0022-5193",

publisher = "Academic Press",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Selfish Punishment: Altruism Can be Maintained by Competition Among Cheaters

AU - Eldakar, Omar Tonsi

AU - Farrell, Dene Leo

AU - Wilson, David Sloan

PY - 2007/11/1

Y1 - 2007/11/1

N2 - Altruistic punishment refers to a class of behaviors that deters cheating at a cost to the punisher, making it a form of second-order altruism. Usually, it is assumed that the punishers are themselves "solid citizens" who refrain from cheating. We show in a simulation model that altruism and punishment paradoxically become negatively correlated, leading to a form of selfish punishment. Examples of selfish punishment can be found in organisms as diverse as wasps, birds, and humans.

AB - Altruistic punishment refers to a class of behaviors that deters cheating at a cost to the punisher, making it a form of second-order altruism. Usually, it is assumed that the punishers are themselves "solid citizens" who refrain from cheating. We show in a simulation model that altruism and punishment paradoxically become negatively correlated, leading to a form of selfish punishment. Examples of selfish punishment can be found in organisms as diverse as wasps, birds, and humans.

KW - Altruism

KW - Cooperation

KW - Public Good

KW - Punishment

KW - Selfish

KW - Public goods

UR - https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cnso_bio_facarticles/55

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/35448950402

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/35448950402#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.024

DO - 10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.07.024

M3 - Article

C2 - 17854839

SN - 0022-5193

VL - 249

SP - 198

EP - 205

JO - Journal of Theoretical Biology

JF - Journal of Theoretical Biology

IS - 2

ER -

Selfish Punishment: Altruism Can be Maintained by Competition Among Cheaters

Abstract

Keywords

Disciplines

Access to Document

Other files and links

Cite this