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Genetic Relatedness

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Coefficient of relatedness; Coefficient of relationship; Genetic relatedness; Relatedness coefficient; Relatedness parameter

Definition

The probability that an allele in one individual is also found in another individual.

Introduction

Relatedness is an important parameter in kin selection or more generally inclusive fitness theory. One significant puzzle in the history of evolutionary theorizing is the evolution of altruism. Kin selection, with the use of the relatedness parameter, often denoted by r, permits to solve this puzzle.

The Puzzle of Altruism

A classical approach to natural selection tells us that only traits which confer a heritable fitness (reproductive) advantage to their bearer will evolve by natural selection. For instance, suppose a population of organisms which vary in height and in which the taller an organism is the higher its reproductive output. We could imagine that the organisms are giraffes and that giraffes which are taller have access to leaves on...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Sydney, department of Philosophy & Charles Perkins Centre, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    Pierrick Bourrat

  2. Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia

    Pierrick Bourrat

Authors
  1. Pierrick Bourrat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pierrick Bourrat .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, MI, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Penn State Worthington Scranton, Scranton, USA

    Douglas Sellers

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Bourrat, P. (2019). Genetic Relatedness. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1358-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1358-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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