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Article

Social selection is a powerful explanation for prosociality.

The Behavioral and brain sciences - 1 Jan 2016

Nesse Randolph M

Abstract excerpt

Cultural group selection helps explain human cooperation, but social selection offers a complementary, more powerful explanation. Just as sexual selection shapes extreme traits that increase matings, social selection shapes extreme traits that make individuals preferred social partners. Self-interested partner choices create strong and possibly runaway selection for prosocial traits, without requiring group...

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PMID: 27561630
DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X15000308

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PubMed metadata and Literature Corpus relationships. Corpus snapshot updated 7 Sept 2026. Manifest publication-graph-cohort-2026-09-08.1.

Source receipt: pubmed, retrieved 7 Sept 2026.

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