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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–4Cite as

Social Selection for Human Altruism

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Synonyms

Costly signaling; Group selection; Multilevel selection; Sexual selection

Definition

Social selection occurs when social interactions produce changes in gene frequencies favoring phenotypic traits that enhance success in gaining or maintaining any reproductively valuable resource, including social status, mates, and social partners (see West-Eberhard 1979; Figueredo et al. 2015).

Introduction

There are diverse usages of the term “social selection.” It has been (misguidedly, in our view) theorized as an alternative to sexual selection theory (Roughgarden 2012). In contrast, West-Eberhard (1979) considered it useful to distinguish between sexual selection (produced by mate choice and social competition for mates) and social selection (produced by social competition for resources rather than social competition directly for mates), viewing them as two complementary forms of natural selection related to intraspecific social competition. Others have also pointed out that sexual...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Criminal Justice, Middle Georgia State University, Macon, GA, USA

    Paul R. Gladden, Frederick C. Baker & Kylie E. Snow

Authors
  1. Paul R. Gladden
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  2. Frederick C. Baker
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  3. Kylie E. Snow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul R. Gladden .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA

    Jon Sefcek

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Gladden, P.R., Baker, F.C., Snow, K.E. (2018). Social Selection for Human Altruism. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1579-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1579-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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