An Explanation of Altruism in Primate Social Behavior

A detailed Summary of An Explanation of Altruism in Primate Social Behavior

Altruism is one of the most mysterious social behaviors in the world. Altruism is defined as behavior that increases, on average, the reproductive fitness of others at the expense of the fitness of the altruist. Fitness simply means the expected number of offspring. When an organism gives up the advancement of its own fitness for the fitness advancement of another organism in the population, it seems somewhat illogical. However, from the articles I've read, survival of the fittest and natural selection, in reference to an entire species or population, is often dependent on the altruistic actions of others in a population. Another concept learned from studying journals regarding altruism is that altruistic behavior is far more complex than normally thought. Altruism can be traced throughout the evolution of many species, especially primates. It has been a focal point in the research of many natural scientists, anthropologists and biologists alike. The four articles I chose to analyze and explain altruism in the realm of primate social behavior were "A mechanism for social selection and successful altruism", "Varieties of altruism - and the common ground between them", "The pursuit of human nature in sociobiology and evolutionary

In the article "The pursuit of human nature in sociobiology and evolutionary sociology" by Alexandra Maryanski, explains the concept of sociobiology in the realm of primate behavior. Maryanski also talks about the two forms of altruism and their relationship to sociobiology, an interesting topic in the course this semester. Those that are directly studying sociobiology can normally be identified by their commitment to a strategy metaphor, their strict application of Darwinian selection, their focus on ultimate causation, and their application of such pivotal concepts as kin selection, inclusive fitness, and reciprocal altruism. The article makes an interesting point when it states that essentially, sociobiology is a theory-driven science that is rooted in the evolutionary principle that the ultimate goal of all organisms is to survive and reproduce. However, in place of the classic selection model which portrays an image of relatively passive and docile individuals being acted upon by the environment, sociobiologists concentrate on the interactions among specifics and portray organisms as selfish and calculating actors who actively seek to maximize their reproductive success by any means imaginable. In these efforts, actors must adopt strategies with different relative outcomes under particular circumstances. Sociobiology has also revamped the selection altruism doctrine by deemphasizing the individual as the unit of selection and highlighting "selfish" genes, the units actually affected by the selection process. But, Hamilton unquestionably forced this shift with his "inclusive fitness", concept as the additive quantity that could maximize individual fitness by helping relatives who share identical genes. This article expressed many interesting ideas regarding the rather new concept of sociobiology, and how altruism heavily factors into this. I was highly interested in sociobiology, and believed it was very important to touch on in the study of altruistic social behavior.

The last article "Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior" by Leonard Nunney, the author describes a book surrounding altruistic behavior in primate societies, while making his own interpretations and adding his own thoughts on this subject. Nunney presents several interesting ideas, but the one that I was most intrigued by was how his idea regarding certain forms of altruistic behavior. He used a rather enlightening example to illustrate his point when he says, "Either you can receive $10 and keep it all, or you can receive $10 million if you give $6 million to you

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Approximate Word count = 1739
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science