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Updated: Apr 1, 2026

The HoneyComb Paradigm for Research on Collective Human Behavior
Published on: January 19, 2019
Modes of migration and multilevel selection in evolutionary multiplayer games
Yuriy Pichugin1, Chaitanya S Gokhale1, Julián Garcia2
1New Zealand Institute For Advanced Study, Massey University at Albany, Private Bag 102904, North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland 0745, New Zealand.
Abstract:
The evolution of cooperation in group-structured populations has received much attention, but little is known about the effects of different modes of migration of individuals between groups. Here, we have incorporated four different modes of migration that differ in the degree of coordination among the individuals. For each mode of migration, we identify the set of multiplayer games in which the cooperative strategy has higher fixation probability than defection. The comparison shows that the set of games under which cooperation may evolve generally expands depending upon the degree of coordination among the migrating individuals. Weak altruism can evolve under all modes of individual migration, provided that the benefit to cost ratio is high enough. Strong altruism, however, evolves only if the mode of migration involves coordination of individual actions. Depending upon the migration frequency and degree of coordination among individuals, conditions that allow selection to work at the level of groups can be established.
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