Kirkpatrick, L. A. (2001, June). Classifying altruistic relationships
and the theoretical problem of mutual altruism in mating relationships
and friendships. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Human
Behavior and Evolution Society, London.
Abstract
People in close friendships and romantic/mating relationships appear to
engage in mutually altruistic behavior out of genuine concern for each
other’s welfare, an observation that is difficult to explain in terms of
either of the two traditional evolutionary theories of altruism (viz.,
kin selection and reciprocity/social exchange). Numerous theories in the
social-psychological literature implicitly or explicitly place mating relationships
and close friendships in the same category as kin relations -- e.g., as
"communal" (Clark & Mills, 1979) or "attachment" (Hazan & Shaver,
1987) relationships -- in contrast to exchange relationships. Others
(e.g., Batson, 1983) see mutual altruism between mates and between friends
as a variant of reciprocity/social exchange, in contrast to kin-based altruism.
Tooby & Cosmides (1996) suggest that the "deep engagement" evident
in friendships (as well as, I argue, in mating relationships) might represent
a third distinct category, in which altruism is adaptive to the extent
that one’s own welfare is somehow yoked to that of another. Thus
there at least 3 different ways of categorizing altruism: (1) exchange
vs. kin/friends/mates; (2) exchange (including friends/mates) vs. kin;
and (3) exchange vs. kin vs. a third category (e.g., "yoked welfare").
I suggest that all three of these classification systems provide useful
insights into the nature of altruism, depending on whether the level of
analysis concerns ultimate adaptive function, proximal functions or mechanisms,
or vehicles of inclusive fitness.
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