Synonyms
Definition
One evolutionary theory of suicide terrorism proposes that the act is committed in order to benefit the close kin of the attacker.
Introduction
Suicide terrorism is a politically motivated aggressive act wherein the perpetrator willingly sacrifices his or her life with the goal of inflicting harm on typically civilian causalities. One evolutionary theory of suicide terrorism proposes that terrorist organizations manipulate followers into embarking on suicide missions in order to benefit genetic kin. This theory of suicide terrorism is rooted in kin selection (Smith 1964), a form of altruism based on Hamilton’s rule (rb > c) where r is the degree of genetic relatedness, b is the reproductive benefits to related kin, and c is the cost to the agent (Hamilton 1963). According to this theory, an organism should act altruistically when the reproductive benefits to its kin are greater than the costs of the act to the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Blackwell, A. D. (2006). Terrorism, heroism, and altruism: The behavioral ecology of Palestinian suicide attack as a model for the evolution of self-sacrificial behavior in humans. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Oregon).
de Catanzaro, D. (1981). Suicide and self-damaging behavior: A sociobiological perspective. Academic Press.
de Catanzaro, D. (1984). Suicidal ideation and the residual capacity to promote inclusive fitness: a survey. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 14(2), 75–87.
de Catanzaro, D. (1991). Evolutionary limits to self-preservation. Ethology and Sociobiology, 12(1), 13–28.
Hafez, M. M. (2006). Rationality, culture, and structure in the making of suicide bombers: A preliminary theoretical synthesis and illustrative case study. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 29(2), 165–185.
Hamilton, W. D. (1963). The evolution of altruistic behavior. The American Naturalist, 97(896), 354–356.
Krueger, A. B., & Malečková, J. (2003). Education, poverty and terrorism: Is there a causal connection? The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(4), 119–144.
Liddle, J. R., Bush, L. S., & Shackelford, T. K. (2011). An introduction to evolutionary psychology and its application to suicide terrorism. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 3(3), 176–197.
Nowak, A., Gelfand, M. J., Borkowski, W., Cohen, D., & Hernandez, I. (2016). The evolutionary basis of honor cultures. Psychological Science, 27(1), 12–24.
Pape, R. (2005). Dying to win: The strategic logic of suicide terrorism. New York: Random House.
Preti, A. (2007). Suicide among animals: A review of evidence. Psychological Reports, 101(3), 831–848.
Refardt, D., Bergmiller, T., & Kümmerli, R. (2013). Altruismcan evolvewhen relatedness is low: Evidence from bacteria committing suicide upon phage infection. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1759), 20123035.
Smith, J. M. (1964). Group selection and kin selection. Nature, 201(4924), 1145–1147.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Syme, K. (2018). Benefits to Kin. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_596-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_596-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences