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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 13, 2026

The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior
06:48

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Published on: January 19, 2019

Human cooperation by lethal group competition.

Martijn Egas1, Ralph Kats, Xander van der Sar

  • 1Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Section Population Biology, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, POBox 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Egas@uva.nl

Scientific Reports
|March 6, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Human cooperation persists when groups face "all-out war" elimination, unlike conflicts over luxury goods. This suggests multi-level selection, combining within-group reciprocity and lethal intergroup competition, drives human cooperation.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Behavioral economics
  • Social psychology

Background:

  • Human cooperation is a complex phenomenon studied across multiple disciplines.
  • Previous research suggested between-group conflict could foster within-group cooperation.
  • Laboratory experiments on conflict often failed to show lasting cooperation effects, possibly due to the nature of the conflict (e.g., over non-essential goods).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the conditions under which between-group conflict drives within-group cooperation.
  • To test the hypothesis that the severity and nature of intergroup conflict are critical factors.
  • To explore the role of multi-level selection in maintaining human cooperation.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental manipulation of between-group conflict scenarios with human subjects.
  • Implementation of "all-out war" (elimination of weakest groups) versus control conditions (random elimination, no group subdivision).
  • Measurement of within-group investment in helping behaviors to avoid collective low payoffs.

Main Results:

  • Within-group cooperation was sustained when conflict involved "all-out war" elimination.
  • Cooperation failed to emerge in control treatments with random group elimination or no group subdivision.
  • Repeated exposure to the game (experience) enhanced cooperative helping behaviors.

Conclusions:

  • Payoff-dependent group elimination, simulating lethal intergroup competition, is a key driver of within-group cooperation.
  • Human cooperation may be maintained by multi-level selection, balancing reciprocity within groups and lethal competition among groups.
  • The nature of between-group conflict significantly influences the evolution and maintenance of within-group cooperation.