Kin-discriminating partner choice promotes the evolution of helping

Abstract

Kin selection theory predicts that individuals should evolve to help relatives, either by helping indiscriminately in a population where they do not move very far from their relatives, or by discriminating kin and conditionally helping them. It has been argued that, because kin discrimination enables individuals to reduce how helpful they are with some social partners as well increase how helpful they are with others, this could lead to an increase or a decrease in the overall level of helping, depending on the curvature of the function relating the optimal level of help and genetic relatedness. However, this prediction was based on a model in which individuals were not able to choose their social partners but only adjust how helpful they should be towards those social partners they have been allocated. Here, we perform a mathematical analysis showing that if kin discriminators are allowed to choose whom they help, kin discrimination is more likely to increase the overall level of helping than previously anticipated. We obtained these results in two complementary theoretical settings: one more general and the other more specific and concrete.